


Amnesia

by Aria6



Category: Bleach
Genre: Memory Loss, Mpreg, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-10-10
Updated: 2013-10-10
Packaged: 2018-04-05 09:47:43
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 46,214
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4175277
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aria6/pseuds/Aria6
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ichigo is found alone in Hueco Mundo, badly hurt. Grimmjow rescues him to fight him again, but how can he when the shinigami is suffering amnesia? Something is blocking him from returning Ichigo to the Living World, and he decides to find out what. But being around a completely amnesiac Ichigo results in some interesting things... lemons, possible mpreg but I haven't decided yet.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Author's Note: This is something I've had on my computer for quite a while… as you can see, this is a mammoth first chapter. I thought about not posting it until it was completely done but that's going to take a while, so you get this first. Enjoy!

The sands were cold as ice underfoot, and crunched softly as the arrancar walked through the endless night.

Aizen was gone, back to the hell that had spawned him. Gin and Tosen were dead, and good riddance. The arrancar 'army' had vanished into the sands or sworn allegiance to Harribel, the only person who gave a fuck anymore. This arrancar had thought about giving himself to her banner, but finally decided against it. She was too much of a peaceful sort and wouldn't like the way he ran his life.

Grimmjow gripped the hilt of his sword, longing for something to kill. It had been a while since his last fight and while he wasn't hungry, he still wanted to fight. Maybe, if he found something soon, he'd just beat the shit out of it and let it live. If it took too long, though, he'd eat it. Even for arrancar the hunger was endless. And while he could have satisfied himself with the reishi pills Aizen had taught them to make, blood tasted ever so much sweeter.

He walked up a sand dune, expecting nothing more than the endless sand on the other side. He got far, far more than he'd bargained for.

"What the fuck?" Grimmjow stopped in utter disbelief as he gazed over the scene beneath him. The torn, bleeding hulk on the ground was familiar. So was the prone body in front of it. "…" Grimmjow turned his gaze to the shinigami on the ground.

Kurosaki was a mess. His shinigami outfit was torn to ratshit, reminding Grimmjow of how he'd looked dead on the floor after his first meeting with Ulquiorra. He was bleeding all over the place, and that huge butcher blade of his was broken. However, from the faint pulse of his reiatsu, the kid was still alive.

That was more than could be said of his opponent. Grimmjow slowly circled the dead arrancar, genuinely impressed. The monster had no name, but he'd seen it before, briefly. A Vasto Lorde that Aizen had attempted to turn into an arrancar, it had been completely insane before its mask was broken and had stayed insane after. It had also been huge and incredibly powerful, full of all kinds of nasty tricks. Instead of destroying it, for some reason Aizen had just pushed it out the door to wander the sands. It had never come back to Los Noches but he still remembered the mind breakingly ugly form in front of him.

Then Grimmjow suddenly stopped as a thought occurred to him. He'd been adjuchas when he'd been turned into an arrancar, but he'd been right on the cusp of vasto lorde. He was aware that his evolution might be frozen now, but there was a chance it wasn't. And this bastard had been the nastiest vasto lorde to walk the sands. If this kind of meal didn't put him over the edge, he'd at least know he was permanently frozen at this level. Grinning wickedly, Grimmjow closed in on the body and began to feast. Unlike most of his kills, this would take a while to get down. The damn thing was huge.

Halfway through his meal, Grimmjow knew he'd done the right thing. He could feel the power coursing through him, and knew that as soon as it settled he'd have newfound abilities. His power was skyrocketing, shooting up to the level of Harribel or Starrk. It felt good, damned good, and he reveled in it.

And he owed it to Kurosaki, which was a bit irritating. Licking his lips, Grimmjow turned to look at the fallen warrior. That soft pulse of reiatsu was still there, but starting to fade. Grimacing, the arrancar walked over to the body and roughly nudged it with a toe, flipping the kid onto his back. Then he whistled softly, looking at the damage.

"He fucked you up pretty damned good." Not quite as good as Ulquiorra, but then, Kurosaki had defeated Aizen. Presumably he'd gotten stronger after defeating the Quatro. "Hmm." Grimmjow scratched the back of his neck, thinking. He wasn't a medic, but he did have one thing that might help the shinigami. The question was, did he want to use it? "…Heh." Grinning wickedly, the arrancar knelt down beside the teen. "I want to see if I can beat you now." Grimmjow told the unconscious shinigami before pulling away the rags of his clothing and lowering his head to lick the wounds.

Until now, his saliva had only been a weak healing agent. To his surprise, Grimmjow saw that the shift to Vasto Lorde had clearly made it a _strong_ healing agent. About on the same level as Nel's puke, maybe, which was actually kind of impressive. Even more impressive was the way the gashes were binding up, and how Kurosaki's reiatsu was already strengthening. Grimmjow concentrated his efforts on the clearly life threatening injuries, gripping the teen and roughly turning him over again so he could tend to his back. Then he noticed that the teen's hair looked funny, and gently touched his head.

"That's a lot of blood." He murmured, trying to get a better look at the wound. The bright orange hair and the darkness of Hueco Mundo had fooled him for a moment, and he hadn't noticed all the dried blood caked to the back of his head. Grimacing, he used his tongue again, this time to work the blood out and get an idea of the source. The source of the blood turned out to be a wound deep enough that bone was gleaming through torn, red flesh. At that, Kurosaki was lucky. His skull could have been split open by whatever had caused this.

Feeling a bit sick from all the shinigami blood on top of his huge meal, Grimmjow still licked that wound until it closed up. Sitting back on his heels, he looked at the teen for a moment. The fading reiatsu from before had been restored to something almost lively, even though the shinigami was still unconscious. Frowning, Grimmjow considered what to do.

Stronger reiatsu or not, if he left Kurosaki here he'd have absolutely no chance of survival. Sure as shit, something would eat him, and what was left of that hulk behind him, too. Grimmjow thought about just leaving him, but after licking the shit out of him, well, he didn't want to waste all the effort. And he wanted to fight the kid again. It had felt so damned glorious, stretching himself to the very limit of his abilities and beyond. Even when he'd been losing, it had been pretty fucking great.

Shrugging to himself, he picked up the pieces of the broken zanpakuto and put them into his belt. They were actually a lot easier to manage than the whole weapon would have been. Then he picked up Kurosaki in a fireman's carry and began hauling him off.

If he was going to keep the brat alive, the first thing he needed was a nice, safe den to keep him in.

* * *

"Perfect." Grimmjow looked over the den with pleasure before carefully dragging the shinigami into a corner.

The cave was tiny. He couldn't stand in it, and had to bend nearly double to get inside. But from long, unfortunate experience, Grimmjow distrusted large caves. They typically led to warrens of caverns that could hold anything, and likely did. He might be vasto lorde now in addition to being an arrancar, but he still didn't want to get ambushed by a group of adjuchas sneaking in through the backdoor.

This cave definitely didn't have a backdoor. Just a little pock mark in the stone, it was warm and comfortable. The entrance was small enough to be incredibly easy to defend, and Grimmjow wasn't worried about something trying to take them here. Any sensible adjuchas would take one look at that entrance, one whiff of his power, and find somewhere else to be.

Kurosaki worried him, though. The kid hadn't woken up and as he'd carried the shinigami, Grimmjow had felt him shivering. Looking at the blank, sleeping face, Grimmjow tilted his head before grunting. The teen was cold and there wasn't much room in this little den anyway. Turning Kurosaki around so he was facing the back wall, Grimmjow put an arm over him and curled up behind him, sharing body heat. It took a while, but between him and the warmth of the cave, the red haired kid finally stopped shivering. Grimmjow hoped he would wake up before too long.

He couldn't wait to fight the brat again.

hr

Several days later, Grimmjow was starting to wonder if Kurosaki would ever wake up.

He still hadn't stirred, except to breathe. The former Espada had even given him a second, more thorough licking the day before, but it didn't seem to have done any good. He'd also brought back part of a kill, and tried pressing the hollow meat to the shinigami's lips. There had been no reaction at all, and that concerned him deeply. Shinigami ate, he knew that from watching Aizen and his toadies. Kurosaki would need to eat, and soon. And go water a tree. Grimmjow snickered a little at that, but only a little. He was no medical type and he had no idea how to take care of someone who was completely out of it. Arrancar didn't go to the bathroom – they lived on souls, which didn't generate waste – but shinigami did. This was going to get nasty if Kurosaki didn't wake up soon. Although that outfit of his was spiritual energy, not real cloth. How would he clean it?

Deciding that all this thinking was making his head hurt, Grimmjow decided to test out his new abilities. He'd found a second release form, to his astonishment and intense pleasure. In his second release his bone armor disappeared completely, replaced with a heavy pelt of fur on his legs and instead of a bone crown he had a crest of green hair. For some reason, tiny beads of white were strung in his hair, and he wore a jade and bone necklace. Fingering the adornment, he wondered what it meant. It was spiritual in nature so it likely represented something.

This second release reminded him of Ulquiorra's second form. Just like the Quatro, he'd lost all his bones, unless he counted the beads and necklace. Grimmjow glanced down and wondered if he should get a loincloth or something. Unlike Ulquiorra, his fur did not do an adequate job of disguising his sex. Then he snorted at himself. Who cared if someone saw his crotch? It might help if he wanted to seduce an adjuchas –

Grimmjow heard a faint sound behind him and turned, ready for an attack. To his surprise and faint relief, it was Kurosaki. The teen's sword was still broken, though, and Grimmjow had taken it. The teen was looking at him with a wide-eyed, curious look and Grimmjow straightened, dropping his guard. Clearly Kurosaki was about as threatening as a newborn kitten.

"Who are you?" He asked directly and Grimmjow blinked.

"Tch, you lost your mind shinigami?" He scoffed, then looked down at himself. He hadn't thought he'd changed _that_ much, but maybe Kurosaki couldn't recognize him in his second release form. He let it bleed back to his first release, giving the teen a feral grin before finally going back to his usual state and sheathing Pantera. "Got it now, dumbass?" He asked and Kurosaki looked disturbed.

"…No. Who are you?" He asked softly and Grimmjow stared at him, taken aback. His apprehension grew as those brown eyes widened with unmistakable fear. "Who am I?"

"Oh, shit." Grimmjow muttered. He'd heard of this sort of thing. Arrancar and hollows could suffer from amnesia, and given all the fights they got into, it was known to happen. Cursing himself, he realized he should have expected something like this. That had been one wicked head injury. "You're Kurosaki Ichigo. Ring any bells?" He asked and Ichigo shook his head. "I'm Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez. We're enemies, but I saved your life since you helped me make vasto lorde. Thanks, by the way." Kurosaki frowned, clearly not following what he was saying, so Grimmjow decided to simplify. "You improved my powers is what I mean." He laid it out, then grimaced. "I wanted to see how I'd stack up to you now, but your sword is still broken. And what the fuck were you doing here anyway?" He asked, not expecting an answer, and Kurosaki didn't disappoint.

"I don't know." He said, sitting down heavily on the sand. The teen looked upset and Grimmjow grimaced. This was not how he'd pictures their next meeting going. "Kurosaki Ichigo…" He murmured, then shook his head. "It's just words. Do you know anything about me?" He asked helplessly and Grimmjow rolled his eyes.

"We were _enemies_ , shinigami." He said and Kurosaki bit his lip. "I did read Aizen's dossier on you, though. Um…" Grimmjow half-closed his eyes as he tried to remember. He hadn't really cared about the minutiae, at the time. "You're like, sixteen years old. Well, make that seventeen now. You've got a dad who used to be a taichou and two sisters. I don't know their names, sorry. And you used to hang out with this midget with black hair, I don't know what her name was. I punched a hole in her right in front of you, that ring any bells?" The teen looked a bit revolted, but shook his head. "And we almost killed each other not that far from here, but you won then saved me from Nnoitra, the bastard." He encouraged the shinigami.

"Sorry. I just don't remember." He said quietly and Grimmjow sighed in frustration.

"Yeah, well…" Grimmjow ran a hand through his hair and came to a quick decision. He couldn't handle this shit. He'd make a garganta for the teen, get him back into the loving embrace of his family and wash his hands of it. For now, anyway. Eventually he'd look the kid up for a rematch, but not until this shit was over and done with. "Stay here." Going back to the den, he gathered up the broken sword and stuck it in his belt again. Coming out he saw Kurosaki just sitting there looking at his hands with a depressed look on his face. "Lighten up! You look like someone killed your dog. I'm gonna take you home to your family." He said gruffly and the teen looked up. "They can get you help and you'll be remembering in no time." That was kind of bullshit, he knew these injuries could be damn near permanent. But maybe the shinigami could do something for him. Lifting his hand, Grimmjow concentrated on opening a garganta.

The garganta opened but Grimmjow was immediately on guard. Something was wrong, he could feel it in his power. Ichigo eyed the opening in alarm and Grimmjow stiffened as it turned red. Swearing, he cut it off and had a sweaty palm moment as the garganta didn't immediately close. It seemed to fluctuate for a moment, as if something else was trying to force it open, but then finally vanished.

"O… kay. In case you're wondering, that was not supposed to happen." He said as calmly as he could. He didn't know what that had been, but he didn't like it one little bit. Kurosaki was just looking at him like a lost little puppy. Damn. "I guess you're staying with me. I hope you can eat hollow food." If he couldn't then the kid was well and truly screwed. Grimmjow created one of the reishi pills and handed it to the teen. "Try that." He preferred hollow meat, but he was guessing a shinigami probably wouldn't. Ichigo eyed it suspiciously then popped it in his mouth. Then the teen blinked as the energy hit his system.

"That's… good. Kind of odd though." He frowned before standing. "Can I have my sword back?" He asked and Grimmjow nodded, handing the pieces over. Ichigo just looked at them for a moment, as if he could feel something in the blade. "Zangetsu." He whispered and Grimmjow lifted an eyebrow. He wouldn't have expected a zanpakuto to trigger a memory, but it was the only thing of his life Kurosaki could actually see. Unless you counted Grimmjow, but an enemy might not be the best trigger.

"Yeah, that's your sword." Grimmjow kicked the sand a bit, wondering what to do now. "Want to go wandering? I bet you must have some friends here somewhere." He was damn sure Ichigo wouldn't have come alone, that would be idiotic. And it wasn't like he was attached to his new den, even if it was a fine one. "Or would you like to wait for your sword to come back?" That might be more sensible. In fact, it would definitely be more sensible, then Kurosaki could guard him while he slept and vice versa. Grimmjow paused for a moment, a bit surprised at himself. He would trust Kurosaki to watch over him as he slept? Then he snorted. The dumbass had saved him from Nnoitra, of course he wouldn't cut his throat in his sleep.

"Let's wait for my sword to come back." Kurosaki clearly wanted to be able to defend himself, which was pretty smart in Hueco Mundo. And the more he thought about it, the more Grimmjow liked the idea of having someone to watch his back, even if it was Kurosaki. Right now the shinigami would just be a burden.

"Okay. I'll go hunt us down something, maybe you can try it." Ichigo nodded and Grimmjow wondered if he remembered how hollows ate. Maybe he didn't. "Just stay in the den, my scent will warn off any adjuchas." They were unlikely to catch the whiff of shinigami under the musk of a vasto lorde.

"Right." Kurosaki said with a small smile before going back to the cave. Grimmjow watched him, a bit surprised. The kid was pretty compliant, right now. It seemed a bit strange. Then the shrugged to himself and set off over the sands.

Vasto lorde needed to eat even more than adjuchas, and his change was pretty fresh. It was time to find some meat.

* * *

Several days later

"This tastes good." Kurosaki said as he chewed on what had once been the leg of a deer-like adjuchas. Grimmjow nodded. "Better than the pills."

"Yeah, I think so." He wondered what the shinigami would do when he remembered that the stuff Grimmjow was hunting could talk and shit. Probably puke. But for now, the food seemed to be doing Ichigo a world of good. His sword was repairing itself and the teen's reiasu felt nice and sparky.

It was really weird. Grimmjow was finding that he liked having a bit of company. And he found that he couldn't hate Kurosaki when he was helpless and acting wide-eyed at everything. The way the kid was looking at him was nothing like that annoying glower he'd always used before. He was acting like Grimmjow was the only thing he could trust in the world, which was probably about accurate given that the world was Hueco Mundo.

So the arrancar was almost enjoying himself and Grimmjow thought about that for a moment. Had he been lonely? He probably had been. His old fraccion hadn't been the best company but they had been company, and so had the arrancar in Los Noches. Sure, he'd wanted to gut at least half of them, but he'd been okay with the other half, mostly. There had always been some bullshit going on, anything from the all female volleyball tournament to Lilynette drawing on someone's face after a bender. Grimmjow hadn't been too amused when he'd gotten done over, but Starrk's anger was enough of a deterrent that he'd just yelled at the brat. Then washed a lot to get the kitty whiskers off his face.

"Stupid brat." He muttered to himself and Kurosaki gave him a confused and slightly hurt look. "Not you. I was just thinking of Lilynette."

"Who was she?" Ichigo asked and Grimmjow shrugged.

"Just a really weak arrancar. She was half of Starrk's power, though, so she got away with murder in Los Noches. He was the Primera, the most powerful except Yammy." Grimmjow spelled out, since Kurosaki wouldn't know any of this anymore. "I don't think you ever met her. Anyway, she's dead. Starrk bought it in the battle against you shinigami." He said and Kurosaki looked down at his food for a moment.

"I'm sorry." He said sadly and Grimmjow blinked at him. Sorry?

"She wasn't one of my fraccion, Kurosaki. She was just a damned nuisance tied to a bastard so lazy I hardly got more than his name. Not my kind of people." Even if they'd been a hell of a lot less powerful, he'd never have picked Starrk and Lilynette for his fraccion. Trying to get the damned wolf to do anything was like pulling teeth. His fraccion hadn't always been easy to manage, but they certainly hadn't been lazy. "You remembering anything yet?" He asked and the kid shook his head.

"No. I wish I was. My conversation must not be the greatest." He said and that made Grimmjow laugh.

"Hah! Puts you right in with my old fraccion. Let me tell you about the time Di Roy got his head stuck when we were trying to slip through a cave." That had been a very interesting hunt. They'd been after a particularly powerful adjuchas who'd attacked his fraccion and almost killed Shawlong. No one beat up his fraccion but him, so Grimmjow had been determined to kill the bastard. Ichigo listened to the story, laughing a few times as Grimmjow detailed all the ways they'd tried to get Di Roy free. One of the attempts got a little gross and Ichigo looked like he couldn't believe it.

"I get that this is Hueco Mundo and there's no real water, but really?" He said as Grimmjow actually blushed a little. "Someone jacked off and you used it as lubricant on his mask?"

"Shut up! It worked." He grumbled and Ichigo laughed. "Although he was really, really pissed." The whining had been spectacular. Fortunately they'd run down that adjuchas or Grimmjow was sure he'd never have heard the end of it.

"Dare I ask who did the jacking off?" Ichigo asked with a grin and Grimmjow gave him a smirk. He knew what the kid was thinking.

"Wasn't me. I didn't have hands back then, wanking off was pretty damned difficult." His best tactic when he was really frustrated had just been to rub against a rock for a while. Not exactly the greatest, but Grimmjow hadn't been interested in making cubs with any of his fraccion. They were a feral bunch of bastards, not what he was looking for in a mate. And he'd planned to put off mating until he got to vasto lorde, anyway. "It was Shawlong, he was one of the few of us who had hands back then, the lucky bastard." He'd envied him that, at the time.

"I see. Do you have any other good stories?" Ichigo asked and Grimmjow thought about it. He had endless stories of good hunts, but they were all pretty similar after a while. He could tell Kurosaki about the first time they met, but that might kill the weird happy vibe he was getting from the teen. So instead, he told the kid about Orihime Inoue and how he'd gotten his arm back. "How'd you lose it in the first place?" Ichigo asked curiously and Grimmjow shrugged.

"Tousen cut it off for disobeying orders." It didn't bother him to talk about it, not anymore. The bastard shinigami was dead and he'd gotten his arm back. Life was good. "So the woman healed me…" He went on to detail how he'd killed Luppi and Ichigo looked mildly revolted. "This is Hueco Mundo. It's how we do things around here." Luppi's fate had been sealed as soon as Aizen ordered Orihime to heal Grimmjow's arm. Ichigo sighed, then smiled.

"You make yourself sound like a bloodthirsty lunatic, but you don't seem to be acting that way." He observed and Grimmjow made a small scoffing sound.

"Wait 'til that sword of yours is fixed, shinigami. I want a rematch." He said but Ichigo just smiled.

"Sure, I'd be glad to go a couple rounds." The shinigami said and Grimmjow frowned. Did he think this would be some friendly sparring match? Then his frown turned into a rueful smile. If Ichigo couldn't remember how to fight, it might be.

"Well, whatever. Are you tired? Because I'm tired." In the endless night, you slept when you wanted to. Ichigo considered it a moment before nodding.

"I am, actually. It's probably all the food I've eaten." He'd completely demolished his share of the kill, a pretty good meal for any hollow. Grimmjow was feeling quite content, too. He'd thought his need for souls would go up when he made vasto lorde, but it hadn't. If anything it seemed to have gone down a little. Maybe because he was stable in his final form? Whatever the reason, Grimmjow wasn't going to question it. Ichigo stood up, yawning a bit, and Grimmjow followed him as he crawled into the den. Kurosaki would get cold without his body heat.

That was the only kind of warmth in Hueco Mundo.

* * *

Grimmjow scratched himself before shaking a bit of sand out of his clothes. Then he stretched, in the 'morning' of his endless night.

Kurosaki was still in the den, still asleep, but Grimmjow thought it was about time to get moving. His sword had repaired itself and they'd had a trial spar that had shown Ichigo sort of had his combat abilities. Only sort of, though. Anything that required no thought at all was still there, and he still knew his bankai, but he was fumbling at bringing out his mask. Grimmjow had told him everything he knew about it, which wasn't much, but apparently there was some kind of trick to it that he'd forgotten. So a real fight with Ichigo still wasn't in the cards.

But he was still more than powerful enough to take care of the crap in Hueco Mundo, so it was time to leave the den. Grimmjow just waited patiently for the teen to wake up, looking up at the stars and moon above. It wouldn't take long, it was chilly in the den without him. Sure enough. Ichigo stumbled out of the den, yawning and stretching.

"Good morning!" The shinigami said cheerfully and Grimmjow grinned. It was funny how they said that, even though Hueco Mundo had no real morning at all.

"Good morning. So, you ready to start looking for your friends?" Grimmjow asked, turning to look at Ichigo. To his surprise, the shinigami looked a bit pensive.

"I suppose." He sounded less than enthusiastic and Grimmjow tilted his head slightly, giving him a questioning look. "I just… don't know them. I know you say they're my friends, but I'm worried about meeting them."

"Tch, no point in worryin' about that." Grimmjow said, waving off the concern. "You can just get to know 'em all over again. And maybe you'll remember when you see them, you and the midget were always hanging out together." He was pretty sure of that, from what he'd seen and read in Ichigo's dossier. "If you want, I can try to describe your friends. I've seen a few." They started walking as they talked, and Grimmjow picked a direction at random. He had no idea where they were going anyway.

"Could you? At least then maybe I could recognize them." Ichigo said and Grimmjow nodded, thinking back to the shinigami he'd seen. He started with Renji then ventured off into other territory, giving Ichigo some rather colorful descriptions. "Paperclips in his hair? I don't understand."

"Shit, I don't know what they are. They're these silvery things, like the color of your sword." Grimmjow tried to mime the things, pulling his hair back. "They were sort of triangular. It's hard to explain." He honestly wasn't sure what the things were called. "He's the only one who wears something like that, so you'll know 'em when you see 'em. His name is Byakuya I think. He has this weird flower petal attack."

"Flower petals? Really?" Ichigo said, amused and Grimmjow grinned.

"Yeah, your friends are pretty weird. Not that I'm one to talk about that." He said, remembering his fraccion. Ichigo snorted.

"After that story about the caves, I should think not!" Ichigo said. Then he said something else, but Grimmjow stopped listening. He was sensing something, something interesting. They were hiding their reiatsu well, but he and Ichigo were being stalked.

"Someone has more guts than brains." He murmured softly as Ichigo gave him a curious look. "Hmm… Ichigo, imagine your reiatsu is like a curtain." He said, falling into old habits. Ichigo wasn't a cub, exactly, but his mind was about as empty. It was time to fill it a little. "Try to brush it out, feel what's around you." Grimmjow winced as he felt the wave of power from the teen. "The idea is to do it _gently._ " Grimmjow told him and Ichigo looked a bit sheepish before trying to gentle his power. "Better. Can you sense anything?" Grimmjow extended his own senses and was surprised to find they were still being stalked. If it had been him out there, he'd have thought twice after feeling that uncontrolled power. Well… actually, it would have depended where he was at the time. As a high ranked adjuchas, he'd have salivated.

"Yes… I think so?" Ichigo's eyes took on an unfocused look. "I think there's… six?" He said tentatively and Grimmjow shook his head. He was actually quite pleased, though. That was rather close.

"Seven actually. But that's pretty good, they're hiding themselves well. And why do you think they're doing that?" He asked and Ichigo scowled, reaching for his sword.

"To attack us." He said, drawing the blade.

"Yep." Grimmjow said, drawing his own sword and turning around. "Why don't we wait and let them make the first move?" That would put them at a disadvantage. Maybe they would decide it was a bad move, taking the two of them on. Grimmjow deliberately flared his dark, dark power and sensed a moment of hesitation from the stalkers.

But only a moment. Then the adjuchas came into view and Grimmjow frowned as he eyed them. They were a bit odd looking, with red patches of something sticky on their armor. Other than that, they were the typical motley assortment of hollows you found in Hueco Mundo.

"Hand over the shinigami, Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez, and we will let you go." One of them growled and Grimmjow's eyes widened. He was absolutely certain he'd never met any of these guys before.

"How do you know my name?" He asked warily as Ichigo lifted his sword, ready for an attack. He was powerful, sure, but his ascension to vasto lorde was a new thing. Besides which, the names of vasto lorde didn't get around unless they were trying to be King. Everyone knew Harribel, since she was in charge, but he was damned near unknown.

"We know many things." Not an answer and Grimmjow scowled. "Now, give us the mortal. He is nothing to you."

"Fuck you and the horse you rode in on." Grimmjow said pleasantly before unleashing a cero. And the fight was on.

It was surprisingly difficult. Seven adjuchas shouldn't have been hard for him and Kurosaki to defeat, even without the shinigami's mask. But those red patches seemed to have a life of their own, and the first time a tendril erupted from it nearly decapitated Grimmjow. Fortunately, his hierro and a quick dodge saved him, but he wasn't at all amused.

"Grind, Pantera!" He called his first resurrection and quickly went to his second. It was time to get serious. The adjuchas didn't even blink, just coming at him more wildly, and he noted the abnormal behavior. His aura as a vasto lorde might not necessarily deter a large, powerful pack, but that damned well should have. Not all vasto lorde had a second form.

Ichigo was holding his own, Grimmjow noted, and was trying to work with him. It wasn't easy since neither of them were familiar with teamwork, but they were still winning. Grimmjow grunted as red tendril hit him hard in the side, not managing to penetrate his hierro, and cut it off with a quick swing of his claws. Then he followed the tentacle and bisected the adjuchas wielding it.

They won in the end, although Kurosaki had a few cuts and Grimmjow had a few bruises. It hadn't been much of a fight, but it had been interesting enough to get his pulse racing. Grimmjow let himself slip back to his normal form, keeping his sword out as he went to investigate a body.

"What is this red shit?" He asked Ichigo, who just shrugged. "Hn." Carefully slicing into the body, he whistled softly. Whatever it was, it had spread all through this adjuchas. He quickly came to a decision. "I'm not eating these guys. Do you want any?"

"No thanks." Ichigo said, looking at the red stuff. "I've never seen that before." And he'd eaten plenty of Grimmjow's kills by now, so that did mean something. Grimmjow nodded.

"I've never seen it either. I bet this has something to do with why you're here in the first place." He nudged a body with his foot then smiled. "I just had an idea. Let's try to backtrack." Ichigo shot him a curious look and the arrancar elaborated. "Try to follow these guys' backtrail. Maybe we can figure out where they came from." He was willing to bet it would be interesting. Ichigo smiled cheerfully.

"That sounds great!" Grimmjow began seeking out the trail, and as he did he began to give Ichigo a lesson on how to track. He might have known before but he certainly didn't now, so it would be useful. It didn't take long for the kid to get the hang of it and Grimmjow approved. They both fell quiet for a while, just concentrating on the hunt. "Hey Grimmjow, I was wondering."

"Hmm? What?" Grimmjow said, his gaze on the trails in the sand. They weren't that hard to follow, but a single moment of inattention could cause him to lose them. It could be tough in Hueco Mundo, picking up a trail when it was gone. Ichigo was still giving the tracks his attention, he noticed.

"When an older and more powerful arrancar takes a younger under their wing, that's a fraccion, right?" He asked and Grimmjow nodded. It was a fair enough definition. "So would I be your fraccion?" Ichigo asked and Grimmjow choked, almost completely forgetting about the trail in the sand.

"You're kidding me, right?" He asked in disbelief, coming to a halt. Ichigo just grinned. "You want to be my fraccion? Seriously?" That was just… he didn't have words. Ichigo's grin widened.

"Why not? It's what we are, isn't it?" Grimmjow stared into those brown eyes and saw them change to a familiar golden hue. "And don't you want to have a fraccion again?" Grimmjow swallowed at the teasing tone in the teen's voice. It sure was different.

"Uh…" He had to think really hard about it for a moment. His last fraccion had been nothing but his lackeys. Ichigo would not be a flunky. He wasn't sure what the shinigami would be, but not that. Still… Grimmjow was lonely, and it was nice to have someone along he could really spar with. And there was one very amusing aspect to the situation. "Sure, why not. You can be my fraccion." Then he grinned wickedly. "I can't wait to see the look on your face when you remember everything. You're gonna shit a brick, shinigami." If Ichigo ever got his memories back, it would be a Kodak moment. The teen just shrugged, his eyes turning brown again.

"I'll worry about that when it happens." He said with a smile and Grimmjow just shook his head, utterly bemused. This was all getting pretty weird. He didn't really mind, though.

He was sort of enjoying it.

* * *

Time stretched on, in the endless night that was Hueco Mundo.

They followed the trail as long as they could, but finally it was lost. Not because of their lack of skill in tracking, but simply because it was too old. Winds blew across Hueco Mundo and carried the sand with them. Tracks and scent only lasted so long before they vanished. But that was fine. Grimmjow had an idea where they'd come from, now. They were heading directly towards the mountains.

"Grimm? I'm hungry. Can we hunt an adjuchas?" Ichigo asked and Grimmjow frowned, checking his own hunger signals. He didn't need to eat too bad, but he was definitely going in that direction. It was time for a hunt.

"Sure." He lifted his head, trying to scent the wind. Nothing. Sending out delicate tendrils of questing power didn't find anything, either. "Eh. Nothing within sensing distance. Let's keep walking and keep an eye open." To stave off the hunger, he created a reishi pill and handed it to Kurosaki. He ate it, but without much enthusiasm. The kid had gotten a taste for adjuchas and didn't even seem to mind hunting them. It was going to be so funny when he finally remembered.

A good while later – how long, he couldn't know – Grimmjow paused. He thought he'd sensed something but it was so faint he wasn't sure. Narrowing his eyes, he sent his thoughts beyond his body, trying to detect what had caught his attention. A wicked grin split his face as he found the elusive scent of the tastiest kind of prey.

"We're in business. Come on, shinigami, there's something delicious not too far away." Completely defenseless, too. Definitely the best kind of prey. Ichigo looked puzzled but followed behind him. Grimmjow grunted as he found the little rock formation and began searching for the den. He knew it would be here somewhere. "Ah!" Grinning wickedly, he reached inside. Pathetic squalls erupted as he dragged out a struggling little hollow. "Fresh meat. Here you… go…?" Grimmjow blinked as he realized Ichigo was looking at him in what looked like horror. "Don't tell me you're getting all squeamish."

"Grimmjow, they're babies!" He said, repulsed, and Grimmjow dropped his gaze to the wiggling cub in his hand. It was some kind of cross between a cat and a snake, if he was any judge. That meant the dam had to be the cat, a snake would have abandoned the cubs to the sands.

"Yeah, so?" He said callously. "That means they can't fight back. And they're nice and tender." Cubs were always the sweetest of morsels. "The dam is gone hunting, so tough shit, they're ours now." His hand tightened on the cub and it made a pathetic, hopeless sound. It didn't touch Grimmjow at all but Kurosaki reacted, grabbing his wrist.

"Please stop! How would you feel if you came back to your den to find your cubs had been eaten?" He asked and Grimmjow twitched. If he hadn't known better he'd have thought the teen had done that deliberately.

"I know exactly how I'd feel, shinigami. Been there, done that." He said gruffly before looking at the little thing in his hand again. Somehow, it didn't look as appetizing as it had a moment ago. "Fuck it." He let the cub go and it ran back to the den, darting in to nest among its siblings. "We can find something else, I guess. But with our luck we'll run into the dam." Grimmjow growled to himself at the thought. When he'd killed a hollow that was primed for cubs but not pregnant, he'd always made a point to find the den and kill the cubs too. Cubs who were used to being cared for would wait and wait for a dam that wasn't coming back, and letting them starve to death was just cruel. "Let's go." Slightly annoyed, he made a reishi pill for himself. He was getting genuinely hungry.

Fortunately, the next hollow they encountered was an insect and clearly not the dam of the cubs. It tried to run but Grimmjow and Ichigo ran it down easily. The ex-Espada tore apart the carcass, sharing it equally with his fraccion.

"…You had a litter?" Ichigo asked after they'd eaten a good part of the kill. He probably thought a full belly would sweeten the arrancar's temper, and he was right. The taste of fresh meat and the fullness in his belly did help his mood, even touching a topic like that.

"Yeah." He said briefly, but Grimmjow knew Ichigo would need more than that. "When I was a younger adjuchas. It didn't end well." He would always remember the sight of his ruined den, the bloody stains that were all that was left of his cubs. "But that's how shit goes, in Hueco Mundo." He was over it. Ichigo frowned but nodded.

"Well, just don't do that to someone else, okay?" He said and Grimmjow blinked at the novel thought. Empathy was alien to a hollow, but as an arrancar he did have the capacity to understand it.

"Hm. I'll think about it. I bet you'd make a great mama." He said, just to needle the shinigami and was a bit surprised when he blushed. "Oi?"

"I… I think I always wanted children…" Ichigo mumbled and Grimmjow gave him an interested look. Was he remembering something? "But I never thought I would have any…"

"Oh? Why?" He asked and just got a shake of the head in reply. Grimmjow gave him a moment, then shrugged. "Well, let's get moving." They'd done a good job finishing off the kill so it was definitely time to go.

The mountains loomed ahead of them like jagged, broken teeth. Grimmjow had never liked the mountains of Hueco Mundo. They seemed even less friendly than the rest of the desert, and that was saying something. Powerful vasto lorde used to live there, but Aizen had driven them all away. Mostly by accident, since he'd wanted to recruit them. But they were old and smart and wanted no part of that douchebag. Grimmjow wished he'd been that intelligent. But then, the vasto lorde had just disappeared. Could an adjuchas with a fraccion have pulled that off? He didn't think so.

Vaguely, he wondered if the vasto lorde had come back. If they hadn't, maybe the mountains would welcome him. He was as powerful as any of them now. But did he want to live in the cruelly sharp mountains? Shrugging to himself, Grimmjow decided that he'd think about it later. He'd only seen the mountains a few times, over the endless years. Maybe they had changed.

They hadn't. If the sands were cold, the mountains were colder. He had to assume his second release when they slept, just to keep Kurosaki warm. That seemed to fascinate the shinigami and Grimmjow growled as fingers ran through his fur, along the edge of his hip.

"It's so soft." Ichigo said and Grimmjow flicked his ears, struck by the tone. It was wondering and… what? Something else, something he was unfamiliar with. "You're so warm… Grimm…" He opened his mouth to say something and was silenced by a kiss.

That was about the last thing he'd been expecting from Kurosaki, but it suddenly ignited his desires. It had been a long, long time since he'd indulged them. Why shouldn't he? The shinigami was right beside him, warm and fuckable. Why shouldn't he take the pleasure that was being offered? A growl built in his throat and Ichigo looked alarmed just before he was shoved on his back. Clawed fingers sliced easily through spiritual clothing and Grimmjow didn't care about replacing it. It would come back on its own, and pretty quickly at that.

"Grimmjow, slow down!" Kurosaki was sounding a bit panicked now. Grimmjow rested a hand on his belly, blue eyes flicking up curiously. "I… I…" Brown eyes met blue and Grimmjow saw blackness starting to spread over his sclera. Instincts were coming to the fore, but not fast enough. A wicked grin split the Espada's face before he lowered himself, licking the shinigami's half-hard cock teasingly.

The sound he got then was amazing, a low moan that made his own cock stiffen. Ignoring that, he continued lavishing attention on his beta, sliding his rough tongue over sensitive flesh. His tongue was coarse and pebbly like a cats, but that didn't seem to bother Ichigo at all. Rather the opposite, if the sounds he was making were any indication. Ichigo's cock was upright and saluting, now, and Grimmjow briefly considered taking it into his mouth. Then he dropped the idea. He was in his second release, his mouth was full of fangs. Even the slightest mistake with those would not be sexy and Ichigo had no hierro to protect him.

Instead, he moved up the teen's body, grinding their cocks together. He enjoyed the sight of Ichigo swallowing, his eyes wide and filled with lust and something else. Fear? One eye was black and gold now, the hollow inside him rising as the mating pheromones filled the air.

"Grimmjow, please be careful." Ichigo pleaded and the Espada blinked at him. Careful?

"You want me to be gentle with you? I'm a fucking arrancar, shinigami!" This was just too much. Grimmjow growled, his clawed hands running over pale skin and raising fine lines of red. Ichigo gasped in a combination of pleasure and pain. "I'll fuck you into the ground." He promised, his voice a sultry purr. But then he was taken aback as Kurosaki's eyes began to tear up. He'd never seen the shinigami cry before, not once, not through everything.

"Please Grimm." He whispered and that soft, broken sound cooled his ardor. Grimmjow took a deep breath, remembering the cubs. _Don't do that to someone else._ He'd been taken violently in his past, several times. He'd always thought nothing of doing it to someone else. That was just how things worked, in Hueco Mundo. But maybe…

"Fuck. Okay, I'll be as gentle as I can." He wasn't promising anything. But Ichigo relaxed a little at that promise, his brown eyes wide and trusting. Damn. Grimmjow kissed him then, pushing his tongue into the shinigami's mouth. Ichigo tried to reciprocate but that was a mistake, as he knicked himself on a fang. He drew back with a yelp and Grimmjow licked his lips, enjoying the faint trace of blood. "Sorry. This released form is tricky." He half-apologized before kissing Kurosaki's throat. His skin felt good, nice and tender, but he knew better than to nip it. They would have to make love in his sealed form sometime. Then he could bite to his heart's content.

He paused to look at his hands. They were clawed, a black shade that ended with his elbows. His upper body was mostly furless, much like Ulquiorra's release. Those claws just wouldn't do and he concentrated, growling in satisfaction as his hands took on a more human aspect. Then he sucked on his fingers for a moment. Saliva was the only lubricant they had, and his had healing properties. That would make it even better.

Grimmjow gripped the soul reapers' thighs, spreading those long, muscular legs invitingly. He paused a moment to give Kurosaki a few more licks, making the teen moan and arch. He began slowly working his fingers in as he lavished attention on Ichigo's balls, exploring them with his tongue. The teen whimpered, slightly in pain but mostly in pleasure as he deepened the penetration, exploring his insides with a single finger. It was hot and moist and tight in there, and he purred at the thought of putting his cock in there. But if he was going to be gentle, he had some work to do.

A second finger joined the first and he heard Kurosaki gasp in pain. He carefully scissored his fingers, moving his mouth to Ichigo's cock and slowly, sensuously licking him. The pleasure distracted him neatly from the pain and after he felt the shinigami was stretched enough he added a third finger. Satisfied with his progress, he deliberately began searching for what he knew had to be there.

It didn't take him long to find that special spot, that hard little nub of flesh. Ichigo mewed, arching as his prostate was stimulated. Grimmjow pulled back from his cock, watching as he repeated his action. The way those long muscular thighs were trembling, the sweat beading on pale skin, just seemed to invite him in.

"Grimmjow… please…" Ichigo lifted his arms to him, black and gold eyes meeting brilliant blue. There was no way he could hold back from that and Grimmjow growled before gripping his thighs, easing himself inside. Those strong arms clamped down around his shoulders as he gasped at the incredible tightness, the wet heat of Kurosaki's passage. "Nnn! So… big…" Ichigo seemed to be in pain and Grimmjow glanced down, realizing he was only halfway in. What…?

"Fuck." He cursed before pulling back out and looking at himself. He was too big and he was just lucky the barbs on his cock hadn't engaged. "Stupid release…" Snarling at himself, he forced his power back, his erect cock shortening and becoming more human. He hadn't realized it was a problem since when he wasn't aroused, it looked perfectly normal. "Sorry." He murmured as he went inside a second time. This time, Ichigo's gasp was more pleasure than pain.

"It's okay… pretty new for you too, huh…?" He said with a strained chuckle and Grimmjow grunted. He would have denied it, but he was too busy sliding in and out of that incredibly tight passage. Besides, it was true that he'd never fucked anyone in his first release. It was meant for combat, not sex. His second release was more animal like and seemed more amenable to other activities.

Grimmjow stared into the shinigami's face, noting every twitch and gasp. He'd never have believed there was something more thrilling than fighting Kurosaki, but he'd just found it. Seeing the shinigami caught in the web of pleasure he was creating was amazing, incredible. The tension gradually went out of Ichigo's body, his insides accepting him more easily, and Grimmjow responded by increasing his pace. Then he grinned wickedly and adjusted himself just the tiniest bit.

"Ah!" Ichigo arched as he managed to nail his prostate, killing that sensitive bundle of nerves. "Grimm… ah…" Kurosaki was panting now, his eyes all hollow. But unlike before, that black and gold gaze didn't make Grimmjow want to kill him. No, it made him want to fuck him harder, make those hollow eyes roll back in his head. So he did. Gripping the shinigami's cock with one hand, his thigh with the other, he took the teen with abandon. Kurosaki mewed as he squeezed that weeping member, running his thumb over the tip and spreading it with pre-cum. The moistening helped him get a good, frictionless slide as he pumped the teen with every thrust.

"You're so fucking hot, shinigami." Grimmjow growled out, his voice heavy and a little strained from the effort of holding back his power. He needed to keep his hands and cock human, needed to keep himself from tearing the shinigami apart with the force of his lust. It felt so good though, and control had never been his strong point. He held onto it desperately, even as he claimed the willing body beneath his. He had to keep himself in check…

"Grimm!" Kurosaki was panting now, meeting every one of his thrusts. His eyes were glazed with pleasure and when Grimmjow kissed him, the shinigami let him explore his mouth, their tongues tangling together. "So big… unh… harder…" He pleaded and Grimmjow snarled, gripping his hips and deepening the penetration. He was as far as he could go now, snug in that clutching warmth.

"You feel so fucking good Ichigo." He managed to say, hearing a beautiful gasp fall from those lips. Freeing one hand from his hips he went back to Kurosaki's cock, squeezing and pumping as he pounded in remorselessly.

Grimmjow had no idea how long they stayed like that, fucking like wild animals, but he felt it as the pressure started to build. The pleasure was becoming too much, overwhelming his fragile control, and he grunted as Kurosaki finally arched and screamed, his cock spasming in the Espada's grip. Creamy cum painted his belly and chest and Grimmjow couldn't control himself. He didn't even want to, and he howled as he emptied himself in a rush of pleasure, his reiatsu flowing out from him like a tidal wave. Sand almost exploded and he heard Ichigo yelp in both pleasure and pain, but it didn't matter. All that mattered was the transcendant pleasure of this moment.

When he came back from the moon, though, he realized what he'd done. Kurosaki was groaning and Grimmjow cursed, pulling back his power and forcing in his barbs. Fortunately, his cock had stayed in human proportions. He could have ruptured him, as deep as he was in there.

"Shit! Sorry sorry sorry…" He apologized, running a hand through orange hair and cuddling the shinigami to his chest. There were tears on Ichigo's face now, tears of pain. But there was a half-mask on his face too and Grimmjow blinked at the distorted chuckle that followed.

"Mating is supposed to involve some pain, arrancar. But why don't you fix it?" Kurosaki said, wiggling his hips. Grimmjow frowned, wondering if this was actually the teen he was speaking to. But it was a good suggestion.

"Right." He doubted he could reach that far with his tongue, but it was his saliva that had healing properties. Licking his fingers, he eased them inside, finding the tears in Ichigo's passage. He could feel them healing and pulled his fingers out again, licking away the cum and blood before sliding them back inside. The saliva would get used up rather quickly, he'd need to keep reapplying it. And the cum and blood mixture actually tasted rather nice, strangely enough.

When he was satisfied that Ichigo was mostly healed, he pulled away his hand and let his power come back out. Claws reformed and he was honestly relieved to be done with controlling himself. Looking into the shinigami's face he saw that Ichigo had been watching him, and now he was smiling contentedly. Grimmjow smiled back and curled up with him, running a hand through that sweaty orange hair.

"That was great." Kurosaki murmured, resting his head against Grimmjow's chest. "Even that last part felt good… strange… thank you." He said and Grimmjow laughed, wrapping his arms around his new lover.

"No, thank you. That's the best ride I've had in a long time. But next time, we're doing this in my sealed form. This one's a bit too much for you." He said teasingly and grinned as he saw brown eyes lighten to honey gold. That had ticked the kid's hollow off.

"Oh, screw you. I can take anything you can… give me…" Ichigo grumbled, then yawned. "Nnn." He mumbled before closing his eyes. Grimmjow just watched him fall asleep, then closed his eyes as well, indulging in a light doze.

Even for a vasto lorde and his mate, Hueco Mundo was a dangerous place. It was better not to sleep too deeply.


	2. Endless Walking

Grimmjow watched Ichigo as he lay curled around the sleeping shinigami.

He was still tired, but an adjuchas had disturbed him. The moron had sensed his energy and scuttled away, but by then he was awake and his mind was too active to fall readily back into sleep. So instead of trying to force it, Grimmjow thought.

He was thinking about his reactions to Ichigo. Something was off about it. He licked his fangs, wondering why he was being so… nice. And why that comment Ichigo had made about the cubs kept coming back to him. _Don't do that to someone else._ Why did he give a shit about how other people felt?

"Vasto lorde. Of course." He muttered to himself. He'd technically been an adjuchas until very recently. Now he was a vasto lorde like Nel, Halibel, Barragan and Starrk. They'd been different from the rest of the Espada. Barragan less than the others, but he was just a cold bastard. Starrk and Halibel had cared about everyone, in their own ways, and Nel had just been out there. No wonder Nnoitra had tried to kill her. She'd been attempting to explain things to him that he couldn't begin to understand. "Huh." But Grimmjow did understand, now. Things like compassion and consideration for others were coming back to him. Sighing, he reached up to scratch his crest of green hair. "Whatever. But if I start acting like Nel, I'm going to fucking kill myself." Just the thought made him shudder.

Satisfied with his reasoning, Grimmjow gradually slipped back into a doze. When he woke up a second time it was to a warm hand sliding through the fur on his hip. Yawning, he blinked for a moment before smiling as he saw that Ichigo was awake and smiling lazily.

"I love it when you smile." He murmured before reaching up and resting one clawed thumb on the shinigami's cheek. Ichigo's smile widened before he planted a gentle and deceptively chaste kiss on the Espada's lips.

"I love it when you look at me like that. So intense…" He murmured and Grimmjow grinned, revealing wickedly sharp fangs. Then he concentrated, sealing his power. For a quick moment he was covered in cold bone but then he slipped back into warm flesh, his jacket and hakama in place and his sword lying behind him in the sand. "Why did you do that?" Ichigo asked, disappointed and Grimmjow laughed.

"Because I want to fuck you, shinigami." He said with a purr and delighted in Ichigo's shiver and the naked lust in his eyes. "And I want to leave my marks on you. You wouldn't like it if I bit you like that." He followed the words by biting down on the muscle where his neck met his shoulder, savoring the gasp he got in return. Warm around went around his shoulders then tightened, the shinigami's clothing rubbing against his jacket.

One downside of not being in his release was that he couldn't just tear that annoying clothing away, not unless he wanted to hurt Ichigo. But that was counterbalanced by the delightful pleasure of Kurosaki's hands on his hakama, undoing the simple ties and pulling down the white spirit cloth. Grimmjow growled as he worked on the more complicated shinigami robes, pulling them aside impatiently. He paused for a moment to admire the revealed body. Ichigo was handsome as hell, lean and muscled in all the right places. And the shinigami was eyeing him right back which was a massive turn on.

"Hmm…" That terrible thing called 'consideration for others' reared its head and Grimmjow realized that taking his mate hard was not the best idea. They had a lot of walking to do, a great distance left to travel. His saliva could fix things a bit but Ichigo would still be stiff and sore. Of course, that left plenty of really hot options and he grinned, fixing the shinigami with a predatory gaze. Brown eyes stared back challengingly.

"Well? Are you just going to stare at me or are you going to do something?" Ichigo asked with a wicked smile and Grimmjow stiffened, growling a little at the challenge. Nipping his fraccion on the throat, he gripped his member and started to stroke. Ichigo groaned, letting his head fall back and giving him room to properly ravage his throat.

Grimmjow hissed in pleasure as he added his own cock, gripping them both and stroking them together. The feeling of his mate's arousal in his hand, pulsing in time with his own, pulled a groan from his throat and send his pulse skyrocketing. And it made him wonder a little in the back of his mind. Why had he never done this before, in Los Noches? But the other arrancar were either bastards or weaklings or…

"Nnn!" Grimmjow gasped as teeth found his neck, intent on leaving their own mark. "Fuck…" The shinigami's eyes were black and gold again, instincts rising with the pleasure of mating. "You are so fucking hot like this." He panted as Kurosaki's hand joined his, helping him pump them. His hand was hot, burning hot against his cooler skin. Ichigo groaned and reached up with his other hand, tangling in blue strands and pulling him down into a deep, passionate kiss.

"Grimm… ah…!" Ichigo panted as he let go, his fingers sliding free of soft blue hair. Grimmjow placed gentle kisses along his jaw, following them with possessive nips on his throat. He tasted so good, warm and hot and alive. Grimmjow looked into his face, savoring the expression as Ichigo suddenly came with a strangled cry. The way he screwed his eyes shut, his teeth clenched down on his lower lip as his whole body shuddered with the force of his release…

Grimmjow shuddered as his own release came and threw his head back with a roar. The sense of completion, the pressure within him finding the perfect outlet, was incredible. The fact that it was with someone he respected and even _liked_ made it incomparably better. His seed splashed across Ichigo's abdomen and chest, competing with the shinigami's cum for space, and the Espada felt a wave of exhaustion come over him. Adjusting himself so he wouldn't crush his mate, he slid onto his side in the sand beside Ichigo. Reaching up he slowly stroked sweaty orange hair before planting a tender kiss on his temple.

"So good." Kurosaki sounded drugged and sleepy. Grimmjow chuckled softly before looking at the mess. There was a distinct lack of water in Hueco Mundo but he had an idea of what to do with that. "Uh… what are you… oh!" That moan made his toes curl but Grimmjow ignored it as he began to lick up the spilled seed. Grooming was something a pack would always do for each other and without water they often needed it. Of course, usually the liquid was blood but it was all the same to him anyway.

"I'm just grooming you, shinigami. No need to get all hot and bothered." He said, his voice a sultry purr as Ichigo lifted his head to look down at him.

"I can't help it. That's so sexy." He said breathlessly, his brown eyes hazy with lust. "Grimmjow, say my name." He suddenly demanded and the arrancar hesitated, confused.

"Kurosaki?" He ventured, wondering what the teen wanted. Ichigo scowled then, reaching down to tug on his hair, making him wince.

"My first name. Why don't you ever use it?" He asked and Grimmjow blinked, honestly confused.

"Because you never said I could." He didn't know much about shinigami naming conventions but he did know they put their last name first, and that was what you used unless they said different. Aizen would have had his guts for garters if he'd ever had the temerity to call him Sosuke. Tosen would have slashed his other arm off he'd ever called him Kaname. The only exception was Gin, who preferred his given name and had laughingly made it clear the first time someone had called him Ichimaru. "Do you want me to… Ichigo?" He said the name slowly, in a rough but deeply sensual voice. Then he had the pleasure of seeing Ichigo swallow hard, his brown eyes wide.

"Yes, please." He said faintly and Grimmjow grinned before returning to his work. If he didn't clean up the shinigami soon everything would start to harden and that was just nasty. Although if they left it long enough he could take a sand bath and get it off that way. But they were planning to travel today so that wasn't on. "Mmm… oh…" Ichigo groaned as a sandpaper tongue explored his abs, removing sweat and semen from the taunt muscles. Grimmjow decided to make it worse, dipping his tongue into the shinigami's belly button. Ichigo went tense as a board, drawing a sharp, hissing breath. "You're t-teasing me you bastard!" He groaned and Grimmjow looked up, blinking innocently.

"However could you think such a thing?" He said with perfect sincerity and Ichigo snorted then groaned as he went a bit lower. "If I wanted to tease you I'd do something like… this." He said softly before delicately licking the tip of the teen's erection. All the work cleaning him up had already gotten him frisky and it was upright and pointing at him. Ichigo's gasp was music to his ears and the Espada grinned. "Or this…" He slid his tongue on the underside of Kurosaki's cock, from the base to the tip. "This…" He prodded the tip with his tongue and suddenly hands were in his hair, desperately clutching the heavy strands. "You like that one?" He said softly, his breath warm on Ichigo's twitching flesh.

"Grimmjow, please." The shinigami begged and Grimmjow laughed before taking the teen into his mouth. The sound he got then was indescribable and he had to put a hand on his belly to keep Ichigo from thrusting up. He wasn't exactly practiced at this, he didn't want the shinigami to choke him.

His practice, or lack thereof, didn't matter much though. Ichigo was panting and making cute little noises that went straight to his groin. Grimmjow reached down and quickly shoved down his hakama, gripping his own cock as he sucked Ichigo off. He started to time his strokes with the sucks, enjoying the synchronization. Kurosaki's scent filled his nostrils, warm and heavy with sexual musk.

"Grimm!" Ichigo's voice was breathy with pleasure, completely undone. "Uhhh…" He moaned and Grimmjow glanced up, seeing the shinigami arching slightly, his hands digging into the sands. "P-Please… ah…" Grimmjow followed the plea and gave him a particularly harsh suck followed by a gentle caress to his balls. Ichigo arched with an echoing, hollow-like cry and Grimmjow swallowed the hot release. The sight of his partner's pleasure, the sensual musk of his body brought him over the edge and Grimmjow drew back with a snarl as his own release came. Pleasure rocked him as his seed painted the sand between his legs, leaving him in hot spurts of creamy cum. "Nnn." Grimmjow sat back on his haunches, grinning as he saw how utterly exhausted Ichigo looked. There was only one way to handle that.

"Rise and shine ICHIGO!" He shouted and the teen bolted upright, his eyes wide and shocked. "It's time to get moving." They didn't have time for sleeping, no matter how pleasant it might be. Ichigo just stared at him. "Ichigo?" There was something kind of weird in that stare. The shinigami blinked before shaking his head.

"Nothing… I just… think I remembered something." He said softly and Grimmjow blinked. "It's gone now though. Let's go." He stood, putting on his clothing and getting his sword in order. Grimmjow frowned but followed his lead, doing up his hakama and shoving Pantera through his belt. They had no idea where they were going or what they would find when they got there, but this was Hueco Mundo.

There was nothing to do but walk.

* * *

Grimmjow frowned, stopping as he scented the air. Ichigo looked at him inquiringly.

"I'm not sure." He said in answer, trying to understand what his senses were telling him. "There's something out there but it's very weak yet… there's something under that?" If he hadn't known better he'd have thought he was sensing a cub. But there was something beneath that, something that seemed far more powerful and put him on guard. He didn't like the feel of it. "It's coming closer." He muttered before drawing Pantera. Ichigo scowled and drew his sword, the strand of fabric wrapping around his arm –

"ITSYGO!" Ichigo's eyes went wide and Grimmjow stared as a tiny body catapulted out of the sand dunes. Nel managed to shoot under his sword and latch herself onto his neck, making him gag. "ITSYGO YOU CAME BACK FOR MEEEEE!" The eternal child shrieked and Grimmjow winced.

"SHUT UP!" He roared and Nel immediately cowered in Ichigo's arms, looking at him with wide brown eyes. "Holy hell, keep it down brat!" He snarled, sticking Pantera back in his sash. Now he knew why he'd felt something funny. Before he'd become vasto lorde Nel had just registered as a cub to him, but now he could sense her hidden power, the energy she husbanded over time to occasionally turn back into her adult form. His enhanced senses recognized that she could be a threat. "How in the nine hells did you find us?" Not that he thought there were nine hells, it was just a nice number.

"Gwimmjow-sama?" Nel said tentatively from her perch in Ichigo's arms. He was looking down at the eternal toddler with a slightly bewildered air. "You gonna hurt Itsygo again?" Her big brown eyes filled with tears as she started to quietly sob. Grimmjow lifted an eyebrow before feeling out her energy again. After a moment he decided she hadn't recovered enough since her battle with Nnoitra to assume her adult form. No wonder she was worried.

"Why would I hurt my mate?" He said easily and Nel goggled at him before bursting into tears and clinging to Ichigo's neck like there was no tomorrow. That made him blink in surprise. Why was she freaking out?

"Nel! Stop – ack…" Seeing Ichigo being choked by a little cub was amusing but also not the best. Grimmjow growled and grasped her, trying to pull her off. But she just wouldn't let go, her face buried against Ichigo's neck. He was rapidly turning a bit blue and Grimmjow lost patience.

"Let go or I'll cut you to pieces you stupid little bitch!" He snarled and Nel let go, making Ichigo stagger and grasp his throat, gasping. Her crying only got worse though. "What the fuck is wrong with you?!" Admittedly, her brain was dumb as hell but still. Why was she trying to kill her Itsygo?

"You hurt Itsygo! You raped Itsygo!" Nel was almost incoherent and Grimmjow rolled his eyes. Of course she would think so. Even vasto lorde were prone to rape and she'd known him as an adjuchas. He'd have had no qualms then.

"He did not!" Ichigo recovered enough to talk, looking at Nel in confusion and some hurt. "He's been taking care of me. I – I can't remember you." He admitted, looking at the toddler. "It feels like I should but I can't." Nel went still at that, blinking at him. Then she looked up at him quizzically.

"What happened Gwimmjow-sama?" She asked and Grimmjow shrugged. He might as well tell her, maybe she could help. Probably not but you never knew.

"Remember that huge vasto lorde that Aizen tried to turn into an arrancar, way back?" Nel's eyes went wide and she nodded. "Ichigo got in a fight with it and killed it, but it fucked him up good. He's lost his memory. I tried to get him back to his family but something fucked with my garganta and we're looking to see if we can find out what." He left out the steps that had brought them here. Nel wasn't smart enough to ask anyway. Nel's big brown eyes went wider, if possible.

"Nel will help! Take Nel with you!" She said enthusiastically and Grimmjow grimaced, looking at the little hollow in his hands. He wanted the kid along like a hole in the head. But then Ichigo gently took her away from him, cradling her against his chest.

"Are you all alone out here Nel?" He asked and Grimmjow frowned as he realized. Where were Nel's brothers? That made her sniffle and big, fat tears rolled down her little cheeks.

"Szay-sama killed m-m-my brothers." She said with a sob, gripping the black fabric of Ichigo's shinigami uniform. "Nel's alone Itsygo! Nel's all alone!" Ichigo looked at him pleadingly and Grimmjow found he couldn't say no to those big brown eyes, couldn't bear to see disappointment in his mate's face.

"Fine, she can come." He gave in with ill grace and Nel looked at him wide eyed as Ichigo smiled. "But you're not our cub! You got it, brat?" He growled at her. Grimmjow knew cubs and he knew that would be Nel's next response. She was an orphaned cub and they were a mated pair.

"You can be my cub Nel." Ichigo said with a smile and Grimmjow bit back a groan. Why'd he…?

"Ichigo, that's not how it works. We're a mated pair, she's either our cub or she's not." He said, holding onto his patience manfully. He really should be discipling his fraccion for that, but Ichigo wasn't his bitch, he was a power in his own right. Ichigo frowned, looking at the little arrancar in his arms. Nel looked up at him soulfully.

"Grimm… can we? I really want a cub." The yearning in his voice made Grimmjow pause and think. Ichigo had said before that he'd thought he would never have children. The Espada wasn't sure why that was so – couldn't he have a cub with another shinigami? – but as long as they were mates there likely wouldn't be any cubs in the offing. Gender didn't matter that much to hollows but Ichigo wasn't a hollow and Grimmjow was an arrancar. He wasn't even sure they were fertile. It wouldn't surprise him in the least if Aizen's little cube had sterilized them.

Then something else occurred to him and he gave Nel a hard look, evaluating her power. It was weak at the moment but… yes. If they fed her on their kills, that reservoir of power would refill and it would be possible for her to be Nelliel again. That would make her a genuine asset to the pack rather than a useless burden.

"Okay, she can be our cub." He gave in and Ichigo gave him such a brilliant smile that it all seemed worth it. "But if she wants to play that's on you, shinigami." He had his dignity. He was not going to be drawn into a game of endless tag.

"Okay." Ichigo agreed as Nel squealed in happiness. He set her down as Grimmjow started off and the cub darted past him, calling for her Itsygo to follow. Grimmjow grimaced as Ichigo ran past him laughing and just concentrated on scanning for threats.

There were always threats in Hueco Mundo.

* * *

"Well, I think we can safely say your friends were here." Grimmjow said as he looked over the former lair of a vasto lorde. "Huh."

"The scent is shinigami." Ichigo agreed and Grimmjow nodded. They'd found this den when they were looking for a good place to bed down for the night. The one thing the mountains had going for them was the massive numbers of acceptable dens available, carved into the rock by the wind and sand or even claws. Vasto lorde had been nesting here for a very, very long time. Grimmjow looked over the den, fascinated.

"Someone had way too much time on their hands." He observed and Ichigo smiled as Nel giggled, running over to a carving and putting her hand on it. "And that's so inappropriate I don't know where to start." He commented as he watched Nel run her hands over the polished surface, fascinated. Ichigo took a look and yelped.

"Nel!" He went to grab her as Grimmjow grinned, glancing up at the ceiling. Someone had had a LOT of time on their hands and they'd spent it turning the whole den into a work of art. The carvings had been made by flaking off the stone with claws and the process was fascinating. Grimmjow could almost see the progress of the carver, the endless hours that had sharpened his craft. The carvings at the front of the cave were crude, mostly depicting hunts, but deeper in they took on more variety and detail. The carved penis Nel had put her hand on was pretty impressive.

"I don't think it was that big." He said, highly entertained. Ichigo gave him a glare as he examined the frescoes. "I mean, you could club a cub to death with that thing. I do like that he's wacking off, though. Bet he got to do that a lot."

"You are horrible!" Ichigo said severely, but there was a smile trying to come out. Grimmjow laughed before turning his attention away from the walls and towards the remains of a small campfire. That was nothing a vasto lorde would bother with so he was sure the shinigami had set it. Not to mention the little bits of alien trash that littered the den. Picking up a bottle he examined it. Water? Probably. Ichigo didn't seem to need any as long as he fed on hollows but he was a vizard. Besides, regular shinigami would feed on hollows when hell froze over and not a moment before. Sniffing the scent he tried to place it and then gave up. He just didn't know Ichigo's friends well enough.

"At least we know we're on the right track." He said optimistically. "It's too bad we're not looking for a den, this one is nice." If he'd wanted to decorate the place himself he would have passed it by but Grimmjow knew his own artistic talent was just about nil. And he was willing to bet the original owner wouldn't want this place back. It was completely filled with artwork so the bastard might have even left for the sole purpose of decorating a new den. Life could get pretty boring in Hueco Mundo.

"I'll pass. I don't want Nel getting that much of an education." Ichigo said, glancing at another carving and Grimmjow followed his gaze before snorting. Apparently the owner of the cave had gotten some real action and he'd decided to immortalize the experience.

"Hate to break it to you shin… Ichigo, but she's not really a cub. You know how mating goes, don't you Nel?" He asked as he sat down cross legged, removing Pantera from his sash and setting her on the ground beside him. He ran a hand over the stone floor approvingly. It was so well worn it was silky smooth and quite pleasant to sit on. A fine den, really.

"Yah! Nel can tell you Itsygo!" Nel said happily and Grimmjow grinned at his mate's 'oh shit' expression. "See you have to take off your clothes an' –"

"It's okay Nel! I know, really!" Ichigo said hastily as Grimmjow laughed hysterically. He couldn't help it, that was just too good. "Oi! You're not getting any tonight." The teen said grumpily and Grimmjow leered at him playfully.

"Ya think so?" He moved with a burst of sonido, trapping Ichigo against the floor and gripping his wrists roughly. The shinigami struggled briefly before giving him a smoldering look, hot with both desire and irritation. "Let's see how long that lasts when I start to suck you off." He whispered in Ichigo's ear and savored the delicious shiver he gave. "Nel, go take a walk. Or go to sleep really fast." He said and Ichigo blushed as the eternal child giggled.

"I'll go for a walk Gwimm-papi!" She chirped. That was her new term for him, and Ichigo was Itsy-papi. "I'll come back if there's any danger!" That was the usual arrangement. Nel wasn't completely helpless, not like a real cub, so they could have their privacy. She skipped out of the den as Grimmjow ground his hips seductively against Ichigo's.

"You mentioned sucking off?" Ichigo asked breathlessly and Grimmjow grinned before nipping the teen's throat. There were constant marks there, these days. "I love it when you do that." He said then groaned as Grimmjow licked the red patches on his throat, teasing the sensitive skin. His saliva reduced the redness but didn't make the marks go away. They were mating marks and they would stay put, which was how he wanted it.

"I know." He whispered in Ichigo's ear before kissing him, slowly and gently. It was a bit weird maybe, but Grimmjow was finding that he enjoyed giving his mate that pleasure. The expressions and sounds he made were beautiful and it just felt right, seeing that. Maybe it was partly because they were so even in power. If there was a power imbalance the pleasure of the lower partner didn't matter as much, but for near equals it was important if you wanted to keep a mate.

Not that it really mattered. Grimmjow knew what he wanted, what he desired, what he would have. He began working on Ichigo's clothing as the shinigami impatiently tugged on his hakama. They were both aroused and ready to mate. There was no reason not to obey instincts.

Instincts were everything in Hueco Mundo.


	3. The Source of the Problem

"Hnh." Grimmjow grunted as he whipped his sword to the side, splashing blood on the cold stone of the mountains. "I think we're getting close." Although that was obvious to even a moron.

"Right." Ichigo sounded a bit spooked, not that Grimmjow blamed him. They'd been encountering more and more adjuchas, all of them infected with that red stuff. And they'd run into one low level vasto lorde, and that had been creepy as hell because she'd still been halfway in control of herself and had begged them to end her life. Grimmjow had no idea what this shit was but apparently, it hurt. A lot. He wasn't eager to find out how much.

"I'm scawed Itsy-papi!" Nel said, her brown eyes big and wet. Grimmjow didn't blame her too much either. She was just a little kid, of course she was scared.

"We'll find out what's doing this and make 'em go away." He said comfortingly as Ichigo scooped up the endless child. "I'll take point." His reiatsu sensing was better than Ichigo's anyway. Although Ichigo could sense an impressively long distance, he still hadn't gotten the hang of doing it unobtrusively. He spread out his senses carefully –

And nearly had his head blown off, figuratively speaking. Grimmjow swore violently as he snapped his sensitivity back down to normal levels. Someone had just lit up with some serious mojo and it had ripped into his senses like an out of control battering ram.

"This way!" Ichigo said excitedly and Grimmjow rubbed his head before following. He would be absolutely fine, it was just a shock. Like a night creature getting hit with the beam of a flashlight. Grinning a bit at the thought, he followed as Ichigo made his way deep into the mountains. Then the shinigami abruptly stopped dead. Grimmjow looked around him, his eyes widening as he took in the scene.

"Dat's Renji! An' Uwyu! But who's dat Gwimm-papi? He's scawy!" Nel lisped from her place on Ichigo's shoulder and he glanced over at the teen. He was staring, his brown eyes wide. Grimmjow couldn't really blame him. The Quincy and the red pineapple were pulling out all the stops. The tattooed freaks bankai was pretty damned impressive no matter how you sliced it.

Even more impressive was the baleful light at the centre of the small clearing in the mountains. Grimmjow recognized the hollow at the centre of it, although he'd changed a lot. The glazing of red all over his body was new, and so was the dark fire in the sockets of his skull mask.

"Rudbornn." Grimmjow made the name a curse. He'd honestly never thought the Exequias might have something to do with this. He just wasn't that powerful… but now he was. It was a highly unusual power, too. Not vasto lorde but something else and just as strong. "Motherfucker! Come on Ichigo!" Now that he knew who was involved, he was on the side of the shinigami. Rudbornn had always been a pro-Aizen fanatic. If the fucker was up to what Grimmjow thought he was, he could just die in a fire.

His sword led the way and Rudbornn looked up sharply as he came in. The blade clashed with red tendrils and Grimmjow grinned wickedly before slicing one off. It helped that a lot of the Exequias attention was split between him and the snake thing. The Quincy was trying to take care of the infected adjuchas, and there was one hell of a lot of them.

"Grimmjow! Join me! Help me free our god from his prison!" Yep, that would be it. Grimmjow's grin turned into a snarl as he leapt away and gripped his sword.

"When Hueco Mundo sprouts flowers! Grind, Pantera!" He snapped, assuming his first stage. But this was too important to risk not using any of his power. "Segunda Etapa!" His power flared brightly before he assumed his second form. Rudbornn seemed a bit taken aback by that.

"I see you made Vasto Lorde. That will only make you more useful to me when I take you as my own!" Then dozens of tendrils were after him and things almost got very ugly. Grimmjow yelped as one of them caught him around the ankle but then it was sliced away by a wickedly sharp black sword.

"Getsuga Tenshou!" Ichigo was in the fray and Grimmjow could guess what he'd been doing. He'd been putting Nel somewhere safe. Brown eyes were narrowed in determination, a familiar look. Only now, he was glad to see it.

"Ichigo!" The redhead called but Ichigo ignored him, concentrating on the fight. He and Grimmjow worked together like a well oiled machine, covering each other and tearing apart everything in their path. Rudbornn resorted to making clones of himself to delay them but he was starting to get agitated.

"Why would you fight for shinigami Grimmjow? Why are you fighting against me?" He demanded and Grimmjow laughed. Was this asshole for real?

"Why are you fighting for a shinigami?" He said mockingly, turning it around. He could practically see the smoke boiling out of Rudbornn's ears.

"That's not the same at all! Oh, just die!" A flare of red light caught him off guard and Grimmjow yelped in pain as he was blasted away, right into the hard, unforgiving mountains. Fortunately his hierro was strong enough that the stone broke rather than his body. Before he'd become vasto lorde he'd have had broken bones or worse.

Shaking his head woozily, Grimmjow still heard the shriek of hollow fury. Pulling himself back together he saw Ichigo, or something he thought was Ichigo, attacking the Exequias in a frenzy. It looked like an unbroken Vasto Lorde, covered in bone with nasty, forward facing horns. The only thing that really told him it was Ichigo was the orange hair streaming behind it. That shade was quite unmistakeable.

After a quick check to make sure everything was relatively intact, Grimmjow joined the battle with his mate. Black and gold eyes flicked to him for just a moment and he could see the feral intelligence in them, a spark that was hollow but also Ichigo. Was this his hollow, the teen or both of them together? He honestly had no clue but he was going to go with it.

Between the two of them they tore Rudbornn to shreds and the snake thing delivered the finishing touch, nearly devouring what was left of the arrancar. At least, Grimmjow thought it was devouring. He wasn't sure the thing could really eat but it seemed to be having a go at it.

"Well, that was fun – huh?" Ichigo abruptly vanished in a burst of sonido and Grimmjow blinked. "Ichi?" He frowned as he realized he was alone with Ichigo's friends. "…Huh." They were both looking at him, too. The redhead looked confused and the Quincy seemed to be curious.

"What have you been doing with Ichigo?" The redhead asked and Grimmjow thought about everything that had happened. It was a lot to go into but it would probably be easier for him to explain.

"Well, it started when I found him almost dead after – GAH!" There was a flash of sonido and Grimmjow found himself over one bone covered shoulder. "The fuck?!" He gasped out, his belly hurting as they shot off like a greased rocket. "Ichigo!"

"WEEE!" Nel caroled from Ichigo's shoulder, his other hand tangled in her robe and her little legs flying in the wind. So that was where he'd gone, he'd gone to get Nel. But why was he running away from his own friends? Grimmjow could only hold on. Trying to make him let go when he was moving like this would hurt Nel and possibly the two of them. How was he going so fast? Bankai combined with sonido?

It felt like forever before Ichigo finally slowed down. The hybrid finally came to a halt and put him down, which Grimmjow was more than in favor of. It felt like he had bruises on top of his bruises. Ichigo was still in his full hollow form and Grimmjow scowled as the teen cradled Nel gently in his arms.

"The hell is wrong with you, shinigami? Those are your friends!" He said, irate, but the hollow Ichigo just ignored him in favor of checking Nel for any injuries. She was just fine and elated about her 'magic ride.' "Why did you run away from them?" Sure, Ichigo hadn't been too enthusiastic about meeting them but why would he run away? The hollow finally gave him his attention.

"They would take you away from me." He said, his voice distorted and strange yet still Ichigo. "You are my mate. I won't allow it. I won't!" Clawed hands gripped his shoulders and Grimmjow blinked as he was shoved against the face of the mountain. Bone began to flake away, revealing the teen's face and he reached up to tug off the horns before giving him a deep, thorough kiss. "I love you Grimm." Ichigo was starting to sound more like himself although his eyes were still honey gold. Those eyes that had pissed him off so much before, that had seemed so arrogantly dismissive, were full of a different kind of heat. Grimmjow swallowed, trying to engage his brain. This was flattering as hell but…

"Okay, I can see where you're coming from, but this ain't right." He said, struggling with himself. He was just learning not to be a selfish asshole. Being completely unselfish was asking a lot. The look Ichigo was giving him wasn't helping at all. "You stormed Soul Society to save the midget. You went through Los Noches, you actually got killed, not just once but TWICE trying to save the woman. You fought me and you won! Shit, Ichigo, these people mean everything to you. You can't just – "

"But I don't know them!" Ichigo cut him off. The gold bled away, leaving pleading brown eyes. "What if my memory never comes back? What if they're always strangers to me? I know you Grimm. I love you and I don't want to go. Please, don't make me." His voice was pleading now and Grimmjow tried one last time.

"If you stay and your memory comes back you're going to freak out, and not in a good way." He muttered, thinking about it. He'd anticipated the kind of freak out that involved a lot of yelling, throwing things and some mocking on his part. That would be funny as hell. If Ichigo found he'd abandoned his friends and family, though, the freak out would probably involve the business end of his sword. But… was he scared? Fuck that! No, he was just concerned. He really didn't want to see that 'I am going to kill you' look on Ichigo's face anymore. "What about your family? You have a sire and siblings – " A warm mouth clamped over his and Grimmjow completely lost his train of thought.

"I won't blame you Grimm." Ichigo whispered in his furry ear and Grimmjow twitched at the feel of warm breath, stirring his fur. "I finally have a mate, even a cub… She might not be our own but she's still ours… I can't leave you." He kissed the corner of the arrancar's mouth and he felt his willpower fading. He just couldn't be a fucking saint, he couldn't.

"Shit." He suddenly moved, turning things around and pinning Ichigo to the wall. The teen squirmed for a moment before looking at him with smoldering eyes. "You know what? You can do whatever the hell you want. I'm not your sire." He said before kissing the shinigami soundly. "You can stay as long as you like." He was done with this bullshit. If Ichigo wanted to be his mate forever and live in Hueco Mundo, Grimmjow was fine with it. He just hoped the shinigami never remembered. It would be better that way. "But we can't play right now." He drew back and grinned as Ichigo made a disappointed sound. "Your friends might catch up to us. C'mon, let's go."

"Where should we go?" Ichigo asked, looking at him trustingly. He was still the experienced one, the leader of the fraccion. Grimmjow frowned, thinking for a moment and scratching his head with one claw. Fortunately, or not, Nel took that moment to butt in.

"You're gonna stay Itsygo? You'll be my Itsy-papi forever?" Nel said excitedly before launching herself up. Ichigo just barely managed to keep her away from his throat and Grimmjow laughed. But Ichigo just smiled, cuddling the eternal toddler close.

"Yes Nel, I'm going to be your papi forever." Ichigo promised and Nel beamed. The pure happiness on her face was so beautiful that Grimmjow decided this was definitely the right thing. Ichigo's friends could just go suck it.

"I think we should go into the wastelands." He said after a moment's thought. Ichigo looked at him questioningly as Nel nodded vigorously. "That's the empty lands past the mountains. Hueco Mundo seems to go on forever – it's a lot like Soul Society – but the reishi gets really intense out there. Perfect for us, we're strong enough to endure it and we can use it to make reishi pills. And Nel was vasto lorde before her mask was broken so she should be fine too. It just might let her take her true form more often."

"Uh huh! I was tryin' to go there when you found me!" She said and Grimmjow nodded. That explained why she was in the mountains. Not really a great place for a helpless cub, and the Vasto Lorde would be especially dangerous to her. They would know she was more than she seemed where an adjuchas would be vulnerable to a very nasty surprise. Ichigo nodded.

"Okay. Let's go." He said and Grimmjow took to the skies. He wasn't a natural flier, of course, but getting through the mountains would be easier in the air. Ichigo followed behind him and they both used their sonido and shunpo, moving quickly.

Getting to the other side of the mountains would take a while, but then they would be on their way.

* * *

The wastelands were boring. Very, very boring.

"I thought the place I met you was empty." Ichigo said as they walked. The ground crunched underfoot. "But this is empty to the ninth degree." Grimmjow grunted from where he was carrying Nel. She could only walk so long before the ground here started to hurt her feet.

"Yeah." Grimmjow had never seen the wastelands before. Everything he knew about them was from stuff he'd picked up in Los Noches. Mostly from Barragan, now that he thought about it. Aizen had gotten the old hollow to make a map for him and while it hadn't been remotely detailed, it had been a starting point. After that he'd gotten the numeros to do a proper survey. But they had never reached the mountains, let alone the wastes.

So he hadn't known that the wastelands were really different from the sands. They were, though, and it wasn't a good difference. If Hueco Mundo proper was a sandy desert, this was a stony desert. In one way it was easier to move in – no shifting sand to tire the legs – but the stone was cruelly sharp. Nel needed a lot more carrying here, her hierro could only defeat it for so long. Grimmjow lifted a leg and glanced at his shoe. Fortunately the fabric was spiritual so even if it took damage, it would come back.

"At least it's warm." He said, transferring Nel to his other arm. Most of Hueco Mundo was cold but this barren land was warm, sometimes verging on hot. It was the enormous amount of reishi in the air, bumping against itself and generating heat. That was his theory, anyway. Szayel could probably have shot about a zillion holes in it but Grimmjow refused to care. "Want a cub?"

"Sure." Ichigo took Nel with a smile and she just snored, dead to the world. "Hey, what's that?" He said and Grimmjow looked over sharply. Sure enough, there was something in the far off distance. Grimmjow extended his reiatsu, delicately trying to feel it out, but detected only the faintest of signatures.

"No idea, but it's different. Let's check it out." Grimmjow said and Ichigo nodded. They walked towards the little spot, and it was a much longer walk than they'd expected. The distances were very deceiving here. But it wasn't like they had anything else to do.

The closer they got to the object, the more it looked like a boulder. It might have been white once, but the surface was covered in grey dust and bits of glued on stone. It looked like someone had coated it in glue and hit it with a spray gun full of dirt, to Grimmjow's eyes. From one step to the other, he stopped moving. Ichigo came to a halt beside him, glancing at him curiously as Grimmjow finally managed to uncover the truth in front of him.

"Oh shit. Ichigo, step back, slowly." He was afraid to even breathe. The 'boulder' in front of them was actually a sleeping vasto lorde, and a damned powerful one. Stronger than himself? Possibly. Stronger than Ichigo? Probably not, but it would be much better to avoid a fight with a being of such power. And who knew how he would react to having his sleep disturbed?

"Nnngh." The both froze as the boulder shifted and began to uncurl. Grimmjow blinked as he realized the Vasto Lorde wasn't as big as he thought. He was an… armadillo? Something that curled into a ball easily, anyway, and he'd kept the trait even as a humanoid. "Snrf." The vasto lorde lurched to his feet, sniffed the air, scratched himself and glanced around. Then he practically levitated. "YAH!" Apparently, they'd managed to completely surprise him. Grimmjow would have congratulated himself if it hadn't been so dangerous.

"AHHH!" Nel screamed, jolted from her sleep by the stranger's cry. Grimmjow winced as Ichigo tried to comfort the toddler. The other hollow had taken a defensive posture.

"Who the fuck are you? A shinigami and an arrancar? I dare ya! I dare ya to try an' drag me to Los Noches! We'll see who gets fucked up!" He gestured pugnaciously and Grimmjow blinked as he realized this guy was way behind on the news.

"Why the hell would we want to do that? Aizen's gone. You know that right?" He said and the armadillo tilted his head to one side before snorting loudly.

"How would I know that? I'm too young to read the winds. And we're scattered to hell and back out here. I haven't seen the dragon at all." He said in a tone of mild complaint and Grimmjow wondered who 'the dragon' was. "Well, that doesn't mean it's safe to go back."

"Got that right." He said, remembering the poor infected bitch he and Ichigo had killed. It sure hadn't been safe for her. The vasto lorde gave him an inquiring look.

"Oh?" He said and to his bemusement, Grimmjow found himself recounting recent events. This was pretty unusual. When he'd been an adjuchas he'd generally killed everything in sight. Well, not always… he'd talked to his fraccion, after he'd killed two of them. Maybe that didn't count. "So shinigami are there now and will be for quite a while, looking for this one." The stranger jerked his chin at Ichigo who frowned. "Ugh, more time in the wastes. I hate this place." He scratched himself again, dislodging a bit of gummed up sand from his carapace. "I feel like I've been sleeping forever… are you going anywhere in particular?" He asked and Grimmjow frowned.

"No. Why?" He asked suspiciously and the stranger shrugged.

"Just wondering if I could tag along. I've got nothing better to do and that's a cute cub." He said, waving at Nel. Nel giggled and waved back. Grimmjow frowned, thinking hard for a second.

This offer had some serious drawbacks. He was still a freshly turned vasto lorde, new to his power. This guy was clearly very comfortable in his standing. However, he wasn't an arrancar. That made a real difference in power and Grimmjow thought there was a good chance he could clean the stranger's clock. And if he couldn't, the two of them fighting together certainly could… so maybe that disadvantage wasn't too bad. The armadillo wasn't bad looking but Grimmjow hated being the beta. The other main disadvantage was that they just didn't know the guy, but that was pretty normal for a pack. You picked people up and either accepted or discarded them, depending on the pack dynamics.

The advantages were clear. Adding another vasto lorde to their little group would be extra firepower if the shinigami somehow hunted them down and would help make any other packs steer clear. Vasto lorde were normally rather solitary but Grimmjow had a feeling they might be packing up a bit, out here in the wastes. This place was so damned empty that even the company of someone you didn't exactly like might be welcome. So a third might be helpful.

"Hmm, alright. But I'm the pack leader, got it?" Grimmjow narrowed his eyes dangerously at the armadillo, who just shrugged.

"Don't care. Might not stay long anyway." He said vaguely and Grimmjow sighed to himself. This guy was reminding him a little of Starrk. He seemed just as aimless. "I'm Rocca Gallangar." He introduced himself and Grimmjow nodded.

"I'm Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez and this is Ichigo Kurosaki." He knew the last name was supposed to go first but Rocca probably didn't. It was better not to confuse him. "He's my beta, so no shagging him." He added for good measure and Ichigo made a choking sound before punching him in the shoulder as Nel giggled.

"Oh, that's not a problem. I prefer to get shagged." The armadillo said and it was Grimmjow's turn to choke. Ichigo gave the hollow an evil look before transferring the hard stare to Grimmjow. He avoided his glance, his cheeks feeling hot. Had he been thinking that the vasto lorde was good looking? No, of course he hadn't! That had been some other Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez. "My hand gets plenty of action." Rocca said mournfully and Grimmjow snorted. That, he could see. Then he suddenly paused as he realized something.

"You carved up your den in the mountains, didn't you?" He asked. Now that he thought about it, those carvings… he'd thought the vasto lorde in them had some kind of cape, but it could have been an armored carapace. Rocca nodded, his body language a bit surprised. "I think we stayed in one. You like cocks a lot, don't you?"

"That's a bit cruel." He complained as Ichigo laughed. "Can I carry the cub?" He asked wistfully and after a quick conversation, Ichigo handed her over. The armadillo set her at the top of his armored cowl and she settled in easily, giggling. "Shall we?"

"Sure." Grimmjow shrugged as they started moving again. There was nothing to do here but walk. Maybe they would even find some place to den.

He didn't think so but you never knew.


	4. Life in the Barren Wastes

To say Ichigo's friends were upset would be an understatement.

After the Exequias death, they had been able to use their portal generators and meet up again in Soul Society. Ishida had filled in the rest of Ichigo's friends as Renji made his report to his superiors in Soul Society. They were just as unhappy as Ichigo's friends, and for very similar reasons.

"Guess we got to go rescue the kid, huh?" Kenpachi said, then grinned. "I heard that Espada gave him a hard time. It'll be a good fight!" He laughed before cracking his neck.

"Indeed. We cannot let the Espada kidnap Kurosaki Ichigo." Byakuya said and Renji scratched his head. He didn't like to contradict his taichou, but…

"Um… to be fair, it looked more like Ichigo was kidnapping the Espada." He said cautiously. He didn't like to admit that but fair was fair and Grimmjow had been just as surprised as them, from what he'd seen before they'd vanished. "I'm not sure what was going on." Grimmjow hadn't managed to tell them much before Ichigo had grabbed him.

"His hollow must have gained control." Hitsugaya said and everyone nodded. That was a logical conclusion. "It would want to remain in Hueco Mundo." Also a logical conclusion. "What should we do?"

"We cannot allow the hero of Soul Society to remain in Hueco Mundo. We must return him to his family." Yamamoto said, which received several nods. It would be a terrible thing to do, leaving Ichigo stranded in Hueco Mundo and at the mercy of his hollow. "Hm… but this will require strength to deal with the Espada and Kurosaki at the same time. Shunsui, Zaraki, Byakuya. The three of you will return to Hueco Mundo and find the substitute shinigami. Mayuri, you will also accompany them. Do you have any way to detect his reiatsu and subdue him?"

"Ah!" Mayuri brightened at that thought as Shunsui sighed. He wasn't looking forward to so much hard work, far from his saki and favorite places to nap. "Yes, I'm sure I can come up with something… May I have a week or two before we depart?" Yamamoto frowned and Mayuri grinned. "I doubt the Espada is going to hurt Kurosaki in the meantime. From the description it might be the other way around! And I need some special equipment."

"That is reasonable." Yamamoto allowed. He couldn't deny that Kurotsuchi might need to make something specialized to sniff out Ichigo's reiatsu. "A week then."

"Possible two… Nemu, come!" Mayuri set out purposefully, his fukutaichou behind him. He had a lot of work to do and little time to do it, but he enjoyed the challenge.

That was the kind of thing he lived for.

* * *

Grimmjow grinned as he pinned his mate to the ground before exploring his throat. The nails on his back, digging and leaving very faint scratches just urged him onward.

Rocca was proving to be a very helpful addition to the pack. His main use was keeping Nel occupied when they wanted to get intimate. He had endless patience with the eternal toddler, playing tag and keeping her busy for as long as they liked.

"Nnn, Grimm." Ichigo breathed and Grimmjow looked up, meeting honey gold eyes. The sclera were turning black, just a bit, like an oil slick slowly spreading across the white surface. The burning heat in those hollow eyes made him forget all about Nel and Rocca. His heaven was right here. Kissing Ichigo deeply he engaged the teen in a passionate tongue duel, feeling a deep satisfaction when Ichigo submitted to his attentions. "Feels… so good…" Ichigo moaned as they parted, his head falling back to expose his throat. Grimmjow took advantage of that, exploring the warm skin and leaving behind his mating marks.

"You're amazing." He whispered in the shinigami's ear and felt him shudder. "I love fucking you, feeling your tight heat around me." He made his voice as sensual as possible, watching Ichigo's widen at the dirty talk. "The look on your face when we fuck… you're gorgeous, Ichigo." He rolled the teen's name, and grinned as he felt Ichigo shudder in his arms.

"Enough talking, more fucking." Ichigo said, his voice distorted as his hollow instincts rose to the surface. Grimmjow was more than willing to oblige, working on his mate's clothing and shoving the offending articles away. A quick loosening of his hakama and he was ready for business.

They were face to face, and that was how Grimmjow liked it. They'd tried other positions, of course. But they kept coming back to this. He wanted to look into Ichigo's eyes, see the passion in those honey gold orbs. It was just so damned beautiful.

Slowly sheathing himself inside that tight heat, Grimmjow grinned as Ichigo made a dark, primitive sound. Toned, muscled legs locked tight around his waist as the fingers scratching his back wordlessly urged him onward. Grimmjow took his cue and began to move, taking the shinigami at a slow but powerful pace. It felt so wonderful when he did this, so hot and perfect. He wouldn't waste it by going too quickly, not tonight. He was in the mood for a long, slow fuck.

"Best mate I've ever had." Grimmjow murmured in his mate's ear before nipping at velvety skin. Ichigo gasped before giving him a wicked grin and ducking his head. Grimmjow couldn't evade him as a questing tongue explored his scar, making him groan in pleasure and need. "Fuck!"

"Yes." Ichigo said, his voice even more echoing than before. But it was still Ichigo and that was all that mattered. "Fuck me harder Grimm. Give me everything you've got." He begged but the arrancar just laughed.

"Not tonight. Tonight we're taking this… slow…" He managed to say before lowering his head to explore Ichigo's chest. He licked away a bit of salty sweat, keeping his thrusts slow and rubbing himself teasingly against the teen's prostate. Ichigo moaned at the stimulation, clearly in need of more. Grimmjow grinned and set about giving him more, holding himself up with one arm as he reached down with his other hand, gripping Kurosaki's heavy length and jerking him off. The teen arched into that touch, his body trembling and jerking with the force of his thrusts. Grimmjow caught his bottom lip in his teeth, biting down in an effort to keep himself grounded. But it just felt so _good._

"Grimm… your cock feels so good inside me… so fucking big…" Ichigo moaned and Grimmjow's eyes went wide. He'd never heard the shinigami talk like that before and it made him want to cum right then. Then he caught the glint of devilry in those black and gold eyes and growled. Ichigo's hollow was teasing him!

"Jerk… oh fuck." Grimmjow groaned as muscles tightened around him, a hot mouth finding that sensitive spot right beneath his ear. "Ichi – stop…!" He didn't want to cum first. He wanted to make Ichigo explode, wanted to see the teen writhing underneath him. There was a dark chuckle in his ear but the pressure on his cock eased.

"Fuck me harder. Stop playing." Ichigo demanded and this time, Grimmjow responded. He plunged in harder and faster, feeling the sharp rocks crunch and for a brief moment he worried about Ichigo's back. But then he lost interest in that as Ichigo's walls trembled around him, the abused passage tightening as his moment of pleasure got closer. Grimmjow gasped, feeling a trickle of sweat sliding down his forehead. He had to hold out. Just a little longer…

He got his wish as a final, powerful thrust took Ichigo over the edge. The way his eyes went wide, the beautiful, almost surprised look when he came was simply gorgeous. It was that expression that made Grimmjow cum and he threw back his head with a howl, the sound of a hollow's pleasure filling the empty desert. Then, to his surprise, Ichigo howled too. The sound harmonized with his voice and anyone in hearing range would have no doubt there was a mated pair close by.

"Shit." Grimmjow whispered as he came down from his high. Ichigo was limp under him, gasping and spent. "That was amazing, soul reaper." He kissed his mate as he slid out, gently stroking overheated skin. Ichigo gave him a small smile and Grimmjow yawned before moving down to lick away the cum. He took his duties seriously, when it came to grooming his mate.

They were just started to doze off when there was a loud squeal. Ichigo grunted as a flying Nel landed on his belly, giggling at how damp he was. There was a deep laugh and Grimmjow looked up to see Rocca watching them. He took a moment to just study the other hollow.

Aside from his carapace, Rocca was a fairly typical vasto lorde. Instead of a full mask of bone he had a half-mask, covering his lower face. His upper face was exposed except for a band around his forehead, but Grimmjow knew that was relatively normal. Hallibel had been like that before Aizen had broken her mask. The rest of him was covered in bone and he had a mop of shaggy, sandy blonde hair. His eyes were a vibrant hazel, mostly brown but shaded with threads of green and blue. He was tall and thin, with only the armoring on his back to give him an illusion of size.

"I have shoes!" Nel shouted and Grimmjow blinked, looking back at her. Sure enough, she was wearing… what? "Unca Rocca made me shoes!" She lifted one little foot and Ichigo laughed, cuddling her.

"That's great Nel!" He said encouragingly and Grimmjow looked at the shoes, surprised. They were carved pieces of rock, with holes for bits of fabric. The fabric was wound through her toes and around her ankles, holding them in place fairly well. From the look of it, it had been torn from Rocca's body covering. He wore a loincloth, although it had to be very long to get across his armored back.

"I thought it might help her run longer." Rocca said and Grimmjow nodded. That was good thinking and some good workmanship on the shoes, too. Something other than stone might be preferable but the only other medium he could think of offhand was bones, and they were rather short of those. He wasn't going to go looking for any, either.

As he'd suspected, the vasto lorde were forming packs. Not large ones, but definitely packs. So far they'd encountered a pack of three and a larger pack of five. They had all stayed carefully away from each other. They'd also encountered another singleton like Rocca, but she'd spotted them and fled before they could even get near. Life had to be a bit tough for the loners, which explained why Rocca had latched onto them so quickly. Approaching a pack was the dangerous part and they'd done that for him.

Grimmjow watched and thought as Rocca lay down on his stomach and let Nel groom him. She went at his back with a rock and a lot of giggles, trying to knock off the dirt. Rocca didn't want to be dirty – his more human side was immaculate – but he simply couldn't reach his back. Unless he was flexible enough to be in the circus, it was physically impossible. Smiling to himself, Grimmjow joined Nel, helping her clean off the grime. Although…

"Are you sure you want us to remove this? It makes a great camouflage." He asked, keeping his voice down. Ichigo was going back to sleep. Rocca snorted.

"Sure do. I hate it, makes me feel nasty. Back in the mountains I would rub against the cliffs but here I have to flop on the ground. It doesn't work very well." He said and Grimmjow nodded, continuing with the grooming. This was the sort of thing that really made a pack. He'd done it with Ichigo hundreds of times, cleaning away blood and cum. He wasn't going to lick this mess, though. No, this was a job for a rock. "I've had cubs you know." Rocca said, apropos of nothing. Grimmjow quirked an eyebrow at him before chuckling softly. The vasto lorde was not particularly subtle. "Identical twins, every time."

"What? Oh bullshit!" He stopped his brushing to scowl at the vasto lorde. Identical twins were very rare for hollows. But the vasto lorde just chucked.

"You think that's bullshit? What about identical quads? That's what I had as an adjuchas." Rocca informed him and Grimmjow blinked. Identical quadruplets? He'd never heard of such a thing. "It's an armadillo thing. I have one egg and it splits to make more. The dragon said insects are like that sometimes too."

"Who's the dragon?" Nel asked and Rocca shrugged, his armored carapace moving with the movement.

"He's just the dragon. I never had the balls to ask for his name and he never gave it." He said and Grimmjow listened carefully. He was pretty interested in this. "He's the one who told me about the shinigami overthrowing Barragan, but I knew him before that. He's a great old one, powerful and wise. He's not like the others, either. The others? They'll rip your head off as soon as look at you. It's still a bit dangerous – he'll eat you if he's hungry – but if you're willing to take the risk, you can ask the dragon for advice." Rocca said. "I did once."

"You're here, so I'm guessing he didn't eat you. What did you ask him for advice about?" Grimmjow asked. This was all a little surreal. Some old hollow giving other hollows advice? Rocca sighed, managing to look a little ashamed.

"…Mating." He admitted and Grimmjow snorted a laugh.

"You're such a kid, Rocca." He teased although he was serious. He'd noticed that the other vasto lorde seemed a bit immature. A lot of the time you didn't notice, but then he would say or do something that made it clear he was different.

"I know." Rocca really didn't sound happy and Grimmjow frowned. It seemed like that had struck a nerve. "Eh… so anyway, I do have twins every time." He went back to his original train of thought and Grimmjow honestly wished he wouldn't. He knew exactly where this was going and he really didn't want to go there. "Er, just for information."

"I got the message." Grimmjow said dryly and saw the vasto lorde actually blush. It was a bit hard with the bone in the way but enough of his face was revealed to make it clear. "But I like my balls where they are, and you should think about the position of yours too. Got it?" He had no doubt at all that Ichigo would do something spectacular if he dared stray. Rocca looked abashed.

"I didn't – I mean, I never suggested – " He mumbled and Grimmjow took pity on him. He actually had a good idea that the vasto lorde was more suggesting they okay a liaison with Ichigo first. That could actually work in some packs, particularly when the primary mate had their mask broken but still wanted the experience of raising cubs. He didn't think that would fly with a shinigami though.

"I know. But I don't think Nel's getting any siblings soon." He said and that was a huge mistake. The whole conversation had been going over Nel's head and she'd been quietly buffing the armadillo. But now she suddenly got the message, or part of it at least.

"You're gonna be making new cubs?" Nel asked innocently and Grimmjow choked as Rocca got a 'deer in the headlights' look. "With Itsygo? But… Itsygo is a shinigami…?" Nel paused in confusion before sucking on her thumb thoughtfully. "You're gonna make cubs with Rocca? That would make Itsy-papi mad!" Nel's eyes filled with tears. "ITSYGO!" Grimmjow swore and tried to grab her but she could be a little bullet when she wanted to. Nel landed on Ichigo's chest, wakening him out of a sound sleep with a small yelp. That yelp quickly turned into a gagging sound as she fixed herself to his neck. "GWIMM-PAPI'S BEIN' BAD! MAKE HIM STOP ITSY-PAPI!"

"Holy shit! I am not you brat! It was an adult discussion!" He snarled, grabbing her and trying to pry her away. Ichigo was turning blue again. "LET GO!" He roared and Nel finally let go, sobbing like a little waterfall. Grimmjow noticed from the corner of his eye that Rocca had curled up into a ball, his armor covering him completely. Apparently it was extremely strong and highly defensive. Grimmjow wouldn't bet on it holding up against a getsuga tenshou, though.

"Gwimm-papi's gonna make cubs with Unca Rocca!" Nel sobbed and Ichigo stared at her wide eyed. Grimmjow snarled in absolute frustration.

"You have it backwards, brat! We said you're NOT getting siblings! NOT! As in none, zero, zip, cero! You got it?!" He said but Nel just kept crying. Ichigo went from shocked to confused, with just a bit of hurt.

"Can someone explain to me what's going on? …And Rocca, you can come out. I'm not going to kill you." Ichigo had spotted the curled up vasto lorde. Grimmjow snorted a bit at that. It sounded pretty funny, a shinigami assuring a super powerful hollow that he wasn't about to die.

"It's just a hollow thing." Grimmjow said but he knew that wouldn't be enough. Ichigo was giving him a 'you better explain' look. "See… normally only the alpha pair in a pack can breed. But if there's an accident and one half of the alpha pair gets their mask broken, they can sometimes have a substitute." He said and Ichigo frowned, confused. "A broken mask means sterility." He qualified. Maybe Ichigo didn't know about that. "If the pack is pretty firm, one of the lesser members could carry the cubs instead and the alpha pair will raise them. Anyway, Rocca sort of suggested it in a roundabout way. I said no, Nel misheard and here we are." Nel's crying was tapering down to sniffling. Unfortunately, Ichigo had a look in his eyes that Grimmjow had never seen before. It looked like pain?

"I'm sorry Grimm. I wish I could have cubs with you." He said quietly but Grimmjow just shook his head.

"I knew you couldn't when I mated you and I've never been that much into cubs anyway, after my first litter got eaten." That had been a scarring experience. Ichigo winced a little at the thought. "So don't worry about it. We have all the time in the world anyway." He said easily although he wondered a little about that. Ichigo had a human body back in the Living world. What would happen to him when it died? Would he hollowify? If he did, that might be good. His hollow seemed to approve of them mating and then Ichigo could have all the cubs he desired. "If we did something like this it'd be more for you than me." Ichigo was studying him and Grimmjow met his eyes squarely, trying to convey his sincerity. The shinigami finally relaxed and gave him a warm hug.

"Thanks Grimm. I love you." He said with a smile and Grimmjow laughed, hugging him back.

"I love you too." He said and wondered when it had happened. When had this feeling bloomed? But it had, it most definitely had. "C'mon, lets get some sleep. Can you stand watch?" He asked Rocca who nodded.

"Sure." That was the usual way things worked with a pack. One member stayed awake as the others slept deeply, then they traded places. When everyone was rested they moved on. Ichigo needed more sleep than the hollows, so usually Grimmjow and Rocca kept the watch. Nel snuggled between them as Grimmjow curled up with Ichigo. Rocca sat down nearby, picking up a few pebbles and flicking them. Grimmjow fell asleep to the tiny bounce of pebbles and the soft, rhythmic sound of his mate's breathing.

If there were any dreams he didn't remember them.

* * *

"Rocca, would you quit sniffing my beta?" Grimmjow said, bored, as he shook the stone dice in his hands. They'd finally found a small stone outcropping and decided to use it as a makeshift den. It was an absolutely awful den, really, but at least the barren wastes weren't cold. To pass the time, Rocca had fashioned some dice and taught them a few simple games. The armadillo looked puzzled as Ichigo blushed.

"He smells different." The vasto lorde said and Grimmjow just shook his head before rolling the dice. They came up snake eyes and he groaned. That was the worst possible roll. "Hah! You lose." Ichigo took his roll and grimaced as Rocca swept up his 'earnings'. They were just pretty rocks, though. Nel had been given a challenge to find a bunch of small, pretty rocks for them and she'd had a wonderful time doing it. She was asleep now, nearby. "Seriously though, he smells different." Rocca said, returning to his original train of thought. When his mind got set on something it was very hard to derail. "If I didn't know better I'd think he was pregnant."

"Rocca, stop it!" Ichigo sounded annoyed and embarrassed, but Grimmjow froze for a moment as something occurred to him. Ichigo wasn't really a shinigami, he was a vizard. And he'd been feeding on a lot of hollows. Was it possible…? Moving quickly he gripped Ichigo's collar and sniffed his neck, ignoring his squirm and protest. He'd smelled his mate's scent all the time, of course, but he'd never really paused to analyze it before.

Now he did and he was shocked by the richness of it. It had been a good scent before, of course, but now it was _amazing._ Grimmjow closed his eyes and savored it, savored the rich musk and the sweet, underlying scent that screamed _baby coming_ to his senses. And that sweetness carried a hint of his own musk, advertising the parentage.

"He's right. You're carrying a litter." He told the shinigami who looked at him with wide, shocked eyes.

"But… but I'm a shinigami. You said shinigami can't? And I'm male. I know that doesn't matter for hollows but…" Ichigo was clearly trying to get his mind around this. But then his expression changed and he looked at Grimmjow searchingly. "You're sure? You're really sure?" He asked and Grimmjow nodded.

"Definitely. Your scent screams it, although it'll be a while before it shows in your reiatsu." It was still early days yet. Grimmjow was going to say something but then Ichigo smiled widely and almost tackled him. "Mph!" Warm lips crashed down on his and Grimmjow completely lost his train of thought. Hands were working on his obi, yanking away the fabric –

"I'll go keep Nel company." Rocca said before beating a hasty retreat. Grimmjow didn't spare a single thought for him. He was overwhelmed by what his mate was doing. Ichigo was incredibly happy and seemed bent on celebration. Grimmjow grinned, letting his mate take the lead this time.

Ichigo was having their cubs. It was the least he could do.


	5. Cub Arrives

"I am losing my mind!" Mayuri was sweating heavily under his makeup. His companions held back from pointing out that they'd thought he'd lost it years ago. "This is hopeless! Absolutely hopeless! We need to go back and tell the Soutaichou it is not going to work!"

"You still can't cut through the interference?" Shunsui asked. Mayuri's devices had caught the track of Ichigo-kun's reiatsu and led them into this hot, barren wasteland. But then the trail had vanished, devoured by the oppressive reishi. Shunsui reached up to wipe his forehead, removing his hat for a moment and wishing he had a good place to store his kimono. "If I'd known it would be so hot I would have brought a lounging robe." He muttered. Not a thought to gladden Yamamoto's heart – they'd had words the last time he'd lost his haori – but still infinitely preferable to sweating to death. Even with the 'water creator' thing of Mayuri's they were all extremely uncomfortable.

"This is boring as hell." Zaraki complained. "Why do these pussy hollows keep running away?" He was getting very annoyed with that. They'd encountered a large group just a few days ago but they'd run the instant they set eyes on the shinigami. Shunsui did wonder about that. The group had been a pack of five and at least one of them had been very powerful. As strong as himself? Yes, without a doubt. The other four had been weaker but still well above fukutaichou level. Those hollows could have given them a hard time, but they'd fled instantly.

"I wonder if they know that Aizen has been defeated?" Byakuya said as Mayuri cursed his machines. Shunsui blinked at the thought. "They may think we are here for him." Byakuya stoically ignored the sweat trickling down the back of his neck, gazing into the distance thoughtfully. Probably trying to reach out with his reiatsu. Shunsui tried again before giving it up as hopeless. He could reach out, but not far or well.

"We must go back." Mayuri said again and they all looked at him. He sounded calm and composed, now. "I need to come up with a better way to search. I never anticipated this absurdly high reishi environment. If we continue to search this way it will literally take us forever." He held one of his machines. Shunsui honestly had no idea what it was for. "This should have been able to detect the vizard's reiatsu within a ten mile radius, and track a trail of it for months. It's limited to a half-mile at the moment and it can't pick up a trail at all. This just won't work."

"Yes." Shunsui sighed. He wasn't eager to report absolute failure to the Soutaichou, but they couldn't remain out here forever. "We'll have to see what Yama-jii wants done." It was hard to see what they would do next. Get Mayuri to build something to take this environment into account, yes. But how long would that take? And sending enough shinigami to properly explore this area was out of the question. It was too big and everyone below fukutaichou would be appetizers to the vasto lorde. Even fukutaichou might fall to them. They fled from taichou, but would they flee from shinigami they knew they could easily kill? Shunsui didn't think so. They ate each other, they had no reason at all to spare shinigami.

Of course, getting back was its own chore. The garganta generator wouldn't work in the barren wastes, as the high reishi environment threatened to tear it apart. Shunsui honestly wondered how the vasto lorde survived out here. But they didn't _want_ to be here. They'd fled from Aizen… and now from them. He wondered how long it would take for them to return to the mountains and frowned to himself. Now that he'd been here it seemed wrong, that the mountains would be so empty of life. Aizen had upset the natural order of this place and now they were doing more damage.

Alas, there was nothing he could do except find their wandering boy and bring him home.

* * *

Rocca sighed to himself as he sat on a rock, in the endless night of Hueco Mundo.

He honestly liked the wastelands. They were barren and empty, true, but that meant he didn't have to make excuses for himself. Being without a mate was only prudent here. Ichigo's pups were going to be a problem and the only one who didn't know it was Ichigo. How would they feed them here? But they would find a way. They would prey on the other vasto lorde, if necessary.

But the topic was himself and his thoughts strayed back to it. Yes, it was prudent not to have a mate here. It wasn't like the mountains, where it was relatively easy to acquire a mate. There were other vasto lorde, but they could afford to be picky and approaching them was dangerous. But it was easy to approach an adjuchas and most of them were flattered. So why didn't he have a mate?

Rocca rested his head on his knees for a moment. He'd tried. He really had, but after a while the adjuchas didn't want to stay and he never had the heart to force it. Was he that bad a lover? But he knew he wasn't. It was something else, something he couldn't fix.

"Why am I so stupid?" He muttered, feeling miserable. Although stupid wasn't quite the right word for it. He could be very clever. He'd taken down opponents stronger than himself, several times. He knew when to run, when the hide and when to attack with full force. As a hollow he was a great success. As a mate, as a person… not so much. "Ugh." He'd only had one mate who had stayed for very long, and Rocca honestly wished he hadn't. Being treated with contempt was not pleasant and as soon as the pups were gone, he had given in to his hatred and rage. "He deserved it." He really had. No one treated him like that. Rocca wondered, though, what the pups would have thought if they'd known their dam had eaten their sire as soon as they were out of earshot. "Unh." Rocca sighed to himself. That made him feel guilty again, not for eating the bastard but for being something worthy of contempt.

It was hard to define, but Rocca thought that his mind had gotten lost somewhere. Grimmjow called him a kid, and that was close to the truth. There was something childish about him, some part of him that had never grown up. Despite being intelligent he could become very fixated on things, almost to the point of obsession. He often didn't understand what other people were thinking and feeling, although he really tried. Rocca was often very, very lonely. Loneliness and boredom had been the drive to decorate his den, for all those years.

"Rocca? You okay?" Rocca lifted his head and smiled behind his mask at the childish lisp. Nel was there, looking up at him with those big brown eyes. He chuckled softly and lifted her into his arms. Her presence was like a balm on his soul, soothing the pain away. He might not have a mate and that hurt a little, but at least he wasn't alone. Rocca settled her into his lap, cuddling the little one close.

"I'm fine Nel. Just thinking." He said as Nel wiggled around to look up at him. She caught her upper lip in her teeth, worrying it with her fangs.

"Whatcha thinkin' about? You felt all sad!" She asked and Rocca was reminded that she wasn't really a cub. He'd been able to hide his feelings from his real pups, so long ago. Although he was sure they'd known something was wrong between their sire and dam.

"Oh." Rocca sighed, then patted her gently on the head. "Just… thinking. About everything." He said vaguely. Nel just looked at him questioningly and Rocca hesitated a moment before giving in. Who else could he talk to, really? He didn't want to endanger his position in the pack. Nel might not understand, but she was safe. "I'm different from most people. I don't think I'll ever find someone to love me." Rocca admitted sadly. It hurt to say but it was nothing but the truth. The dragon had told him not to be ashamed of who he was, and that there would be someone out there for him. But he wasn't sure he believed it.

"I love you Rocca!" Nel protested and he laughed, cuddling her close.

"Aw, thanks Nel." Of course, he had experienced that love several times. The love of a pup to dam, a warm, genuine love. It wasn't what he was looking for but it did make things better. "Um… Nel, what are you doing?" He said in alarm as he sensed a gathering power. The little one had her face screwed up. What was she trying to - ?

That was as far as he got before things changed radically. One moment the vasto lorde was holding a tiny cub, the next there was a full grown arrancar straddling his waist. Rocca made an incoherent gargling sound as his gaze suddenly fixed on very plush breasts. They were right in front of his face, too, he couldn't have avoided seeing them if he'd tried. Like most hollows, he was bisexual and a blush crept over his skin before he managed to yank his gaze up.

"N-N-Nel?!" He stammered out as he saw the broken mask, the very familiar green hair and the mark on her face. But this was Nel all grown up. Rocca had known she could do this, of course – Grimmjow and Ichigo had mentioned it – but this was his first time seeing it. It nearly broke his brain.

"I'm different too, Rocca." She said with a smile and he swallowed, hard. Her position was a bit… oh crap. He tried desperately to control his body, keenly aware that there was only a thin loincloth between them. This was no time to display his childishness! "I wasn't before Nnoitra hurt me, but I am now." She reached up to touch the scar on her face, the jagged break in her mask. Rocca followed the gesture, grateful for anything that would take his mind off the fact that she was in his lap. "I like you Rocca. I like you a lot." She said shyly and he swallowed hard as she shifted slightly. He couldn't keep his body from reacting and from the way Nel was smiling he was sure she could feel it. "Would you like to? Although I can't have cubs." She said sadly and Rocca nodded.

"Your mask is broken." He said huskily. If it wasn't for that, she could inject her reiatsu and DNA into him. It was strange but could be done… but not if her mask was broken. Nel nodded sadly. "I don't mind. And I like you too, Nel." He wasn't going to say love just yet, mainly because he hadn't been thinking about Nel like this at all. She'd just been a little girl… but now she wasn't. Her hands slid under his clothing and he hissed before embracing her and nuzzling her cheek. She giggled as her mask fragments scraped against the hood of his cowl. His armoring went a bit over his head, creating a hood like effect. Her hands were warm as they stroked his growing erection and Rocca groaned softly, nuzzling her cheek. Kissing was hard with bone in the way, but that was a common dilemma for all vasto lorde. They mostly nuzzled back and forth, gently licking and nibbling in tender, loving gestures. Rocca slid his hands under the tattered shirt she wore, exploring her breasts. They were large handfuls and he enjoyed squeezing them, lightly flicking the nipples and making her gasp.

"That's good…" She panted and Rocca was pleased to hear the desire in Nel's voice. Then she adjusted herself and he yelped in surprise and pleasure as she impaled herself on his length. The tight, grasping heat was simply amazing and so very unexpected. "Rocca…"

"Nel." He breathed her name as he began to take her, watching her breasts bounce as she rode him. Was this really happening or was he having an amazing wet dream? No, he would never have imagined this. "…" There were no words, so he concentrated on making this good for her. He wasn't a bad lover, and he would prove it.

Their bodies rose and fell together beneath the crescent moon of Hueco Mundo. It was a long, slow mating, both of them fully engaged in the sensations and not wanting it to end. But it had to. They couldn't keep it up forever and the pleasure built to a natural peak. Rocca made certain it was Nel who came first, her sweet cry of pleasure echoing over the empty plains. Then he let himself go, gripping her hips and taking her hard as he felt her insides tighten and clench around him. Stars danced behind his eyes as the moment of climax came over him, the pleasure that claimed all of his senses.

They lay together for a moment, spent and tired. But then Nel slowly pulled away, letting him slip out of her body. He muttered weakly in protest and she flashed him a grin, her cute little fangs glinting in the moonlight. Then, in a puff of purple smoke, he had a child on his chest.

"That was fun Unca-Rocca! That was lotsa fun!" Nel said excitedly and Rocca just stared at her for a moment before laughing and patting her head.

"And that went from amazing to horribly wrong in zero point five seconds." He said with good humor. It really was funny although it was extremely peculiar. Nel looked a bit hurt and Rocca cuddled her against his chest. "I love you Nel." It was easier to say that to a toddler, for some reason. Maybe because he would always love her as a cub. He still wasn't entirely sure about the woman, mainly because he wondered if she would love him. But they could find out.

"Love you too Rocca. Mmph! I'mma tired." Nel said before dropping her head onto his chest. Rocca yawned but stayed awake as the little one slept.

It was his duty to keep the watch.

* * *

Grimmjow looked at Ichigo with a frown.

They had been out here for three months. He was fairly sure of that, despite the time being so difficult to define. But it had been far too short for nine months and the shinigami was almost ready to give births. Panthers had a three month gestation so that looked likely.

Grimmjow bit his lip as Ichigo adjusted himself, trying to find a comfortable position. They'd puffed the ground as much as they could, fixed up the makeshift nest for him, but Grimmjow didn't like it. They were terribly exposed here. Every instinct wanted to go back to the mountains and take up Rocca's old den. That would be a fine spot to raise cubs, warm and comfortable and safe. But it wasn't safe, not really, not with the shinigami looking for them. How would the high reishi environment of the wastes affect them? Grimmjow smirked to himself. They were probably having a ton of fun with that.

The smirk faded, though, as he thought about the child. Ichigo was eating far too many reishi pills and they'd even caught a vasto lorde for him, letting him take the entire kill to feed the cub. That had done him a world of good but Grimmjow feared for him. The drain on his reiatsu after the child was born… would the pills be enough or would he require kills?

"Shit." Grimmjow mumbled to himself. This was an awful place to raise a cub. "Damn those shinigami freaks." If only they could go back to the mountains they would have plenty of adjuchas to pick through. The adjuchas in the sands were constantly moving in their effort to find prey and that inevitably brought them to the mountains. Most of them had no idea there was anything to be wary of and fell easily to the vasto lorde. Vasto lorde didn't hunt that much, either, unless they were raising cubs. So there was always plenty of prey.

"Don't worry Grimm. We'll make it work." Ichigo said with a smile before wincing. Grimmjow frowned and went to his side. The teen was all lean muscle, he'd actually lost what little fat he could claim in the pregnancy. The only thing soft about him was his distended abdomen. Grimmjow ran a hand over that taunt flesh before gently placing a kiss against it. He could feel the child flutter and sent him or her a gentle pulse of reiatsu. The little one responded with happiness and the arrancar grinned at the feeling. "Have you noticed something odd going on with Rocca and Nel?" Ichigo asked and Grimmjow grimaced. He actually knew exactly what was going on. He could smell it all over them both.

"Eh. Don't worry about it." He advised. He was fairly sure the shinigami would freak. Nel did appear to be a little cub, after all. Of course she really wasn't but it was still odd as hell. Ichigo gave him a frown and Grimmjow patted his stomach. "Really, it's nothing important."

"Huh. Well I – " Ichigo paused, a strange look on his face. "…Grimm?" He said tentatively and Grimmjow cocked an eyebrow at him. "What does giving birth feel like?" He asked just as his stomach very obviously rippled. Grimmjow stared, his eyes going wide.

"Oh shit!" This was it. The time he'd see his first cub as a vasto lorde. It was going to be a singleton, they knew that already. It was easy to read in Ichigo's reiatsu. "I think it feels like that. Okay. You can do this." He forced himself to remain calm. He was the only one with experience, Ichigo wouldn't have a clue. The shinigami was looking at him all trusting again. Damn, that made things tough. "Hmm…" He quickly stripped off his jacket and called for Rocca and Nel. They both hurried over, concerned. "Rocca! Pass me your loincloth."

"I, uh, what?" The vasto lorde stammered and Grimmjow just gave him a look. He finally stripped it off, mumbling in embarrassment. Then he used the fabric to create a nice pad for Ichigo to kneel. The position Grimmjow knew best was hands and knees but that would hurt Ichigo's knees cruelly without some kind of padding. It had been different as a cat like adjuchas.

"I notice you made Rocca give up his pants but kept yours." Ichigo observed as he took Grimmjow's directions on position. The ex-Espada grinned.

"I'm the pack alpha. Privilege of rank. Although if you need 'em, they're going to be gone too." He said easily and Ichigo laughed, stripping away his own clothing and using it for his hands. The stone of the desert really was sharp and unpleasant.

The birth wasn't easy. Before long Grimmjow was gripping Ichigo's shoulders, letting the shinigami rest his weight against him. Sweat poured down that hard, toned body as he fought to bring their child into the world. His body had formed a vagina like passage, his balls vanishing to make room, just like any vasto lorde. Rocca was the most experienced of all of them and he quietly assured Ichigo that he was doing fine, the baby was coming and he just needed to keep pushing. Nel watched wide eyed, a thumb in her mouth as they urged the hybrid onward.

"Grimmjow, I don't know if I can." Ichigo sounded close to tears and Grimmjow nuzzled him, kissing his cheek and wishing he could drive the pain away. "It hurts so much, anh…" He panted harshly before groaning and tensing.

"You can do it Ichigo. You can do it." Grimmjow said, willing him not to give up. Birthing could be harder for vasto lorde just because they were more humanoid, and he knew shinigami could die in childbirth. But that wasn't going to happen to Ichigo. He was strong, he could take it. Then Rocca spoke encouragingly.

"I can see the head! You're almost there Ichigo. Keep going, you can do it." He said and Ichigo blinked before nodding tiredly, gathering his strength. Grimmjow held him as he went rigid, pushing strongly with the next contraction. "That got the shoulders! Just a bit more… ah!" There was some quick scrubbing followed by a very loud wail. Ichigo's eyes went wide and Grimmjow froze as they both heard the sound of their offspring. "I'll take care of the cord…" Rocca tied it off then bit through it. Ichigo yelped in surprise as his body expelled the afterbirth and Grimmjow laughed.

"Newbie." He teased gently, then winced as Ichigo scowled and punched him. It wasn't much of a punch, the teen was exhausted, but it got the point across. How was he to know there would be an afterbirth? "Rocca, can you take care of that?" He said as he gently helped Ichigo into a better position, the shinigami's back resting against his chest. Rocca was licking the cub off but he looked up with a nod.

"Sure." He passed the pup over and the new parents just looked at him for a moment. He was still wet, sticky and cranky from the birth but in most ways he was perfect. Ten fingers, ten toes, everything in all the right places. Definitely a boy, that was easy to see from the swollen privates. But the rest…

"He's… white?" Ichigo sounded a little confused and Grimmjow couldn't blame him. Their baby was white as snow. Black and gold eyes blinked up at them as the child started to calm.

"White or not, he's definitely ours. Look at those ears." Grimmjow reached down with a smile to stroke the child's ears. They were just like his resurrection, pointed and furry. The cub seemed to enjoy having them touched and looked absolutely blissful as he found a good spot and gave him a gentle scratch. "Although he doesn't look much like you. Maybe he's not yours." He added just to be a jackass and Ichigo yelped before punching him again.

"Oi! I just spent hours pushing him out, don't you dare say something like that!" He protested and Grimmjow laughed before kissing him on the cheek. That made his mate smile and cuddle up to him. "I love you Grimm. What are we going to name him?" He asked sleepily and Grimmjow frowned.

"I don't know." They'd been waiting to see what the child would look like before deciding on a name. But they hadn't anticipated this outcome. Where did all the white come from? The eyes were clearly from Ichigo's hollow, at least. "You go to sleep. We can figure it out tomorrow." He advised and Ichigo nodded, clearly close to passing out. Grimmjow adjusted the fabric around him before stripping off his pants and adding them to the pile. It wasn't like he needed clothes, they were a social convention. Plenty of vasto lorde went without. And he was going to make sure his cub and mate had all the comfort they could, in this barren waste.

They could name the cub tomorrow.


	6. Instincts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: For me, sometimes a story decides to go a different place… this isn't actually what I planned, we'll have to see what happens.

"This is so weird." Ichigo murmured as he held the baby to his chest in a white blanket that had once been Grimmjow's jacket. Their little one had woken up hungry and his cries had stimulated the vizard to produce hollow milk. It was mostly reiatsu, very powerful reiatsu. Amusingly, Ichigo's 'milk' was black and red, reflecting the color of his power. Grimmjow smiled, putting an arm around his shoulders and letting his mate lean on him as he fed their child.

"I've been meaning to ask. How does your hollow feel about all this?" He asked curiously. From what he understood, the vizard were like two souls in one. The powers were often working against each other, which was why Aizen had given up on them and moved on to arrancar instead. Ichigo looked puzzled at the question.

"I'm just… me. I hear Zangetsu sometimes, but he's faint. There's no one else." He said and that made Grimmjow frown. He didn't know a lot about how vizards worked but he was pretty sure that wasn't right. Then he shrugged to himself. It wasn't like he could do anything about it, if Ichigo and his hollow had somehow merged. "Grimm, I'm hungry." He said and Grimmjow grimaced. Rocca had already warned him about that.

Living in the wastes really wasn't good with a baby in tow. Ichigo could feed the cub and oddly enough, Nel could in her adult form. Sympathetic lactation, that often happened with true females in a larger pack. But no matter who did it, they were draining themselves of energy and substance, things the pup needed to grow rapidly. That meant they needed food, and lots of it. Hunting vasto lorde could be challenging, but they had to do what they had to do.

"Hm." There was only one question and Grimmjow wrestled with it for a moment. But he finally decided it had to be done. Vasto lorde were tough prey and they might end up taking on a pack. "Ichigo, can you leave the pup with Nel and come hunting with us?" He asked and Ichigo looked stricken. "We might need you. These aren't adjuchas we're taking on." Rocca was seriously worried about that. Grimmjow thought he was a bit of a worry wart – the two of them were damned powerful – but still, they could really use Kurosaki's firepower. Ichigo regarded him for a moment before looking down at his white little baby, clearly torn. Then he nodded.

"If you died because I wasn't there, I would never forgive myself. And Nel can keep him safe." He smiled as the little one let go of his chest with a small pop, just looking up at him with black and gold eyes. "What are we naming him, Grimm?" They still hadn't decided. Grimmjow scratched his head.

"It's not really a name, but I know what I'm going to call him." He said firmly and Ichigo looked at him, a bit confused. "Pequino Rey. It means little king." That made Ichigo smile.

"You were always the king." He said affectionately and Grimmjow grinned. "I know… let's call him Masahiko." He said before placing a kiss against the babies' head. "It means just prince." He explained and Grimmjow tested out the name.

"Masahiko. Yeah, that works. Let's do that. Now, let's go find Nel and Rocca." They were off playing eternal tag. Grimm was absolutely certain they weren't doing anything more. With the need to hunt Nel would stay in her child form and conserve her energy for danger. That meant no matings, but Rocca would manage just fine. He had a hand and knew how to use it.

Nel was more than happy to look after Masahiko. She stayed in her child form, cuddling the baby in the shadow of their makeshift den. Then they set out to hunt.

It was a long, boring hunt. The stony desert was very empty and lacked any kind of cover, but the sands hadn't had much either. Finally they came upon a pair of vasto lorde who immediately tried to run. Grimmjow grinned as they loped in pursuit. This was going to be easy. They were moving far too slowly to get away from them.

"I'll take the male. You two take the female!" This was a mated pair, he could tell from the scent. The male of the pair was pretty weak while the female was about Rocca's strength. He'd make quick work of the male then go help Ichigo and Rocca with the female. He drew his sword and was just about to attack when they suddenly stopped running. Blue eyes flared wide as suspicion hit him, but then it was too late.

_**HOLYFUCKINGSONUFABITCH!**_ Grimmjow's head snapped back as an incredibly dense reiatsu hit him. It reminded him a little of the first time Ichigo had pulled out his mask. It reminded him a LOT of the several occasions where Aizen had crushed him to his knees with power alone. He barely got his sword up in time to intercept deadly claws, aimed for his throat. Great bat wings spread behind the stranger as he looked into the mask of a monster. Black and gold eyes stared at him intently below upswept, curling horns. Grimmjow gritted his teeth as he was driven back by a sonido much faster than anything he could muster.

"My apologies. My mate is pregnant and we require sustenance. Your souls will be used well." The stranger assured him and Grimmjow managed to separate from him, leaping away. But the monster was onto him in a heartbeat and he barely managed to parry those claws a second time. Then a fist got through and he reeled at the hard blow to his head. It was followed by a wicked slash across his throat. His hierro saved him, but just barely and bright red blood stained his enemies' claws.

"Not… comforting!" He managed to gasp out as the vasto lorde went in for the kill. Then he heard Ichigo's hollow scream and the vasto lorde was knocked off his feet by the frantic hybrid. "Sh… shit…" Grimmjow collapsed to the ground, panting heavily and trying to stay awake. But the world was spinning and he could feel his strength ebbing. The waves of reiatsu rolling over him weren't helping, alternately pinning him and shoving him. He finally lost his struggle against unconsciousness, barely hearing Ichigo screaming something as he tumbled into darkness.

* * *

When Grimmjow began to wake, sometime later, he was remarkably free of pain.

_Is this the afterlife?_ He wondered as he floated in a sea of nothingness. It was warm and comforting and he really didn't want to leave. _Is this what it's like to be part of a vasto lorde soul collection?_ But no. If he were part of that bastard's collection, or his mate's, he wouldn't be conscious at all. The souls within a vasto lorde were not in any pain but they had no true awareness, merely existing as they awaited another try on the wheel of fate. _What is happening to me?_ The warmth was still there but he was becoming aware of the fact that he had a body. He could vaguely feel sharp stones pressing into his skin, the beginnings of discomfort. He cherished the sensation. It was real, it was a sign that he was alive.

It took a while but he finally found enough awareness to open his eyes. Eyelids fluttered and he blinked, a dark form slowly came into focus.

"SHIT!" Grimmjow jerked up and banged his head against bone and twisting horns. That hurt, a lot, but the vasto lorde recoiled in surprise. "FUCK OFF YOU ASSHOLE!" Desperately reaching around he tried to find Pantera. He hadn't even gotten a chance to release her in the battle, it had gone so fucking fast. His own fault for thinking he wouldn't need it. But the bastard had felt like the lowest level of vasto lorde.

"Please calm down. I had no idea you were mated to my pup." The vasto lorde raised both his hands in a pacific gesture and Grimmjow blinked before giving him an odd look. What in hell was he talking about? Then he decided he didn't care. He had a bigger bone to pick with this asshole.

"You suckered me, you jackoff!" He snarled. It was so clear now. This vasto lorde was one of the 'great old ones' Rocca had mentioned and he had enough control over his reiatsu to hide it. He'd pretended to be slow and weak to take them off guard. The vasto lorde tilted his head to one side before examining his claws.

"Yes, I did. I was thinking about hunting and when you started to chase us, well, it was the obvious thing to do. I'm a lazy old thing and if food comes to me, why do extra work?" The vasto lorde said and Grimmjow glared at him for a long moment before snorting. The bastard was right. He'd have done the exact same thing, if some group had come after them.

"You only think you're lazy. I knew an arrancar ten times as lazy as you." He said to the vasto lorde, who looked a bit taken aback.

"Ten times? …Did he ever move?" He asked with morbid curiosity and Grimmjow grimaced, remembering the Primera.

"Not much, no. Now what was this about a pup?" He still didn't get that part. The vasto lorde gestured to the side and he looked to see Ichigo sitting with the female. She was a fox type and was holding Masahiko in her arms, cradling the young one against her chest. Not far from them were a few bits and pieces from a kill, a good powered vasto lorde from what he could sense. His mouth salivated at the thought and he blinked as something was shoved into his hands.

"I caught that for us. Eat." The vasto lorde advised and Grimmjow looked at the arm. He didn't protest, biting into the rich flesh. He needed the energy to heal his wounds, that was for damned sure. "I'm referring to your mate. I have no idea how it happened but I recognized his reiatsu when he attacked me. He contains the essence of my little Shiro-hana. I'd always wondered what had become of him." The vasto lorde seemed a bit melancholy. "We'd thought he was dead, and he is in a way. The shinigami seems to have absorbed him… it is very strange."

"…Huh." He was finally getting it now. Ichigo's inner hollow had been a natural born vasto lorde? "Shit, no wonder he kicked my ass when he finally got his mask." Grimmjow muttered to himself. "Hey, who are you anyway?" He hadn't caught the jackass's name. Although he was still thinking of him in swear words.

"I am Vandular Sturmdraggan." He said politely and Grimmjow put him on a tentative 'to kill when stronger' list. Although he had spared their lives and brought them a kill. And he was technically Ichigo's sire. When had life gotten so complicated? "My mate is Rinascita Bellamina. But you can call me Van, and she prefers to be called Rin." Short names that were easy to yell in a fight. Very practical.

"So are we forming a pack here or what?" Grimmjow said warily. Although he didn't see how it could work. One of the general rules of hollow reproduction was that only the alpha pair got to breed. It wasn't really a hard rule, though. Very strong packs might let some of the weaker members breed, and if half of the alpha pair got broken a surrogate might be used. But they had just met. Trying to form a pack when Vandular's mate was pregnant would be awkward, to say the least. Van shook his head.

"No, my mate and I have decided it is time to return to the mountains. I am afraid you should probably do the same." He said, his tone gentle and Grimmjow scowled at the thought. "I know the danger it places you in but hunting vasto lorde… you are putting yourself in just as much danger here. And also disrupting the balance." He said and Grimmjow stared.

"The balance? What do you mean?" He asked, confused. The vasto lorde scratched himself for a moment before answering.

"There is a balance of souls. I have no way to know for certain, but I believe the number of powerful vasto lorde roughly equals the number of powerful shinigami." He said and Grimmjow blinked. "Times of disruption always thin the herd. I estimate a bit less than half of the vasto lorde who fled the mountains have died, mostly to each other. Children are very rare, but my mate has conceived and so has yours. Hueco Mundo is trying to find balance and by killing more of our kind, we are not helping." Van paused, then sighed. "That is the only reason we are leaving this place. I have the power to hunt anything." He said with a certainty that was a bit frightening. Grimmjow swallowed before finding his voice.

"Yeah, well, I don't care about the balance. But are there more out here like you?" He asked, apprehensive and Vandular shrugged. "Seriously!"

"Mmm, the number of great old ones? At least three. The others are not as great as me." He said with assurance and Grimmjow breathed a small sigh of relief. "However, they are far more likely to kill for sport. I think most of the casualties have fallen to them." He said which was not reassuring at all. Grimmjow looked over as Rocca crawled over. His body language was extremely submissive and Van regarded him with amused tolerance.

"I'm sorry, great one… Ichigo says Masahiko wants you." He said to Grimmjow and the Espada nodded before pushing himself up. He was completely healed and feeling a lot better.

"I've told you, youngling. You really don't have to call me that…" Van sounded irritated but amused. Grimmjow tuned him out as he went to Ichigo. His beta looked up at him with a small smile, cuddling a crying baby to his chest.

"He has a special cry for when he wants his papi." He said and Grimmjow laughed, taking the fussing baby in his arms. Masahiko's cries tapered off into soft whines, and then the baby reached up with a coo. Grimmjow smiled and gave the little one a finger to hold.

"So cute." The female said and Grimmjow looked her over. She was a fox type, with red fur on her wrists and red lines on her facial mask. Interestingly, she was wearing a sundress that had probably been stolen from Soul Society. It was very loose and he could tell that it didn't really fit her body properly, likely because she had more than two teats. That was common for anything that had big litters as an adjuchas. "He looks just like Shiro-hana would have, without his bones." She said softly, reaching out to touch the pup and Grimmjow gave her a sharp look.

"Your kid was an albino?" That could explain a lot about Masahiko. Rin nodded.

"We could see the white skin under the bone, just a bit." She said and Grimmjow nodded. That made sense. "And his hair was white as snow. Van said it came from him… he wasn't an albino but albinism ran very strongly in his clan, as a living man. His mother and his grandfather on his father's side were both albino."

"Huh." Grimmjow processed that before looking down at his baby. The genetics of hollows could get weird, but it did sort of make sense. Ultimately, their 'genes' were derived from their existence in the Living World, or possibly Soul Society. "I can see he definitely got their eyes." Vandular and Ichigo's hollow eyes were identical. The female moved a little closer and Grimmjow could practically smell the desire on her. "You want to hold him?"

"Could I?" She asked, giving him a hopeful look and flirting her tail playfully. Ichigo laughed softly and Grimmjow smiled before passing the baby over. Masahiko fussed for a moment before scenting something familiar in the reiatsu holding his, and calmed down. For a moment Grimmjow wished they could form a pack with these two. Vandular would be potent firepower against the shinigami.

_Could we?_ He thought for a moment. It would mean giving up his position as pack alpha. Hell, it was pretty much unheard of for a pair with a cub to join a larger pack. But… shit, they needed the help. This was honestly a bit of a nightmare. And he'd thought Rocca was just being too anxious!

"Could we maybe form a pack?" He said to Rin and she looked at him, surprised. Then she looked down at the baby in her arms. Masahiko was falling asleep, his little hands clutching the edge of his blanket.

"Maybe… I don't know." She sounded hesitant, which was completely understandable. "I would like to see more of my grandchild, though." Masahiko started to fuss and she handed him over to Ichigo, who smiled as he let the infant feed. "Van has never really been one for crowds." She said doubtfully as she looked over at her mate. Then she glanced at Grimmjow again. "And, forgive me, you seem to be very… dominant."

"She definitely has you pegged." Ichigo said cheerfully. "Vandular doesn't seem that dominant, though." Grimm scratched his cheek thoughtfully. He wasn't sure he agreed with that. Rin shook her head.

"He is very calm, very relaxed. He might not assert himself or flaunt his power, but it will always be there." She cautioned and Grimmjow understood although he didn't like it. The problem wouldn't be Vandular, it would be him. If he couldn't contain his instinctive reaction to a more powerful male this would never work. Ichigo looked a little confused and glanced at him.

"She's saying that I might not be able to handle having him around. They should be the alpha pair and even if he lets me play alpha, my instincts will know it's an act." Grimmjow explained and Ichigo frowned. "We'll just have to see." If Vandular was willing to try he was willing to have a go at it. That kind of reaction would either get better or it would get worse. If it got worse, they would have to part ways.

Van was dubious but he caved easily under his mate's pressure. Grimmjow grinned to himself. If he was any judge, and he was, the fox hollow had him wrapped neatly around her little finger. From the smile on Ichigo's face, he saw it too. Rocca was being extra quiet and submissive but Nel easily made up for that, begging Van to play. Soon he was chasing the endless child and even managed to gently nudge Rocca into joining in. They both sat in the shade of the rocks, holding Masahiko and watching the hollows at play.

It was beautiful and Grimmjow hoped it would last.

* * *

"Shit." Grimmjow cursed to himself as he glared at the decapitated adjuchas. He'd gone out to hunt even though they didn't really need the meat. He'd hoped a kill would take the edge off his temper but the bastard hadn't given him any kind of fight. Really, the bloodshed had only made things worse.

It had been two days since they had returned to the mountains and Vandular's presence was stinging him like a red hot pin. He knew it was stupid and knew it was entirely his fault, but Grimmjow simply couldn't help it. It reminded him of how he'd felt in Los Noches, dealing with hollows more powerful than he, but it was even worse. He hadn't been mated with a cub then so he'd been able to grudgingly accept that he was a lesser member of the pack. Now, he couldn't do that.

Vandular was letting him pretend he was the alpha. The elder vasto lorde was actually very gracious about it and Grimmjow wondered how his instincts could stomach it. But it wasn't really helping because his own instincts knew it for a farce. The constant urge to drive the other male away was quietly killing him. His intellect knew they needed the stronger hollow but he couldn't seem to beat the lesson into his instincts.

"Grimmjow." The voice made him start and turn. The subject of his thoughts was standing there and Grimmjow snarled before he could control himself. Vandular just looked at him, his black and gold eyes almost sad. Grimmjow took a deep breath and centred himself. He was not an animal that lived and died by instincts!

"I'm sorry. What is it?" He said as politely as he could, glancing Van over. There was no sign of trouble, nothing out of place. His armor was white as a bone, just like all vasto lorde. The other male's hollow hole was positioned at the base of his throat and jagged black lines spread out from it, reminding him strongly of Ichigo's hollow form. They shared many similarities, although Vandular's horns were more in a dragon motif and seemed more ornamental than functional. All he wore was a black covering around his privates.

"This isn't working." The vasto lorde said dispassionately and Grimmjow grimaced, looking away. "We must leave or you must submit to me. There can be no other outcome."

"Fuck!" He suddenly flared, gripping his sword. "We're not just fucking animals! There has to be some other way." He wasn't willing to accept this. He needed Rin and Van to help protect Ichigo and Masahiko. Van pretty much quadrupled their firepower. He _needed_ them. "This instinctive bullshit is, is bullshit!" Not exactly the most coherent protest but it summed up his feelings well. Vandular was quiet for a moment before sighing softly.

"I understand your feelings, I truly do. But it doesn't work that way." He said gently and Grimmjow set his jaw mulishly. "If we keep going this way there will be a fight and it will be needlessly violent. We need to settle this before you go berserk." Vandular cautioned and Grimmjow scowled uneasily. Berserk? Could that happen? He had a bad feeling it could.

"How are you handling this so well?" He asked. Because as far as he could see, the older hollow was showing no signs of strain. Van shrugged.

"I'm much older and this is far from my first litter. You are a young vasto lorde with your first cub." He said and Grimmjow frowned. "It doesn't matter how long you were an adjuchas and how many pups you raised then. You are new to your powers and that makes your instincts stronger."

"…Oh." That did make some sense. "Well… fuck." He drew his sword, looking at Vandular through narrowed eyes. "Let's do this." He said decisively. He wasn't going to put his mate and cub in danger by asking Van and Rin to leave. That meant submitting, letting Van take over being the alpha but that meant they had to fight. There was no way he would submit without that!

The battle that followed was more for form than anything. Grimmjow had already felt the weight of Vandular's reiatsu, the incredible density of it. He summoned his resurrection, then his second stage and that made the fight more even. That only meant he lasted longer and finally Van pinned him down, fangs pressed firmly against his throat. Grimmjow shivered slightly at the feeling of cold bone against his skin. A single swipe of those fangs could end his life. Instead of staying resistant he relaxed, going completely limp in the older hollow's grip and letting his reiatsu submit to the elder. There was a grunt of satisfaction before Vandular let go.

"Good. Let us go back to the den." Van said before glancing at the kill. "Bringing that, of course." Even if they didn't really need the meat there was no reason to waste it. Grimmjow nodded as he slipped back into his sealed form. Strangely, he felt much better now. He might be a lesser member of the pack but at least the tension of pretending to be something he wasn't was gone. Although he wondered how Ichigo would react when he saw what had happened. If there was one power in the pack that might be able to challenge Van, it was Ichigo.

They would just have to see.


	7. A Loss

When Ichigo found out about the change in the pack rankings he was mildly upset. And he definitely had some questions.

"What does this mean for me and Masahiko?" He asked with more than a bit of concern and Grimmjow grimaced. That was a good question.

"With Vandular? Nothing really, except that pequino rey here will be our only little one for a while." He said frankly as Ichigo frowned. "We'd have to get Van's permission to breed again and he won't give it with two little ones in the nest." Grimmjow would be a bit surprised if Vandular gave his permission even after that. This was a good time to breed, when the three worlds had a need of vasto lorde. He would want to fill his mate with more cubs, it was an instinct. "If it were some other alpha, Masahiko could be killed." Grimmjow admitted and Ichigo's scowl was impressive as he cuddled his pup close. Masahiko was sleeping, sucking on his thumb. "But he won't do that. The family bonds help." Vandular was a rather mild, gentle sort for a vasto lorde and having a grandchild clearly meant a lot to him. Grimmjow had never heard of a pack forming with related hollows, but it clearly made a difference.

"I can't picture Rin or Van hurting Masahiko. But Grimm… why am I the beta? I'm not saying I'm stronger than you." Ichigo said hastily as Grimmjow stiffened slightly. "But it never even seemed to occur to me to try. Is that normal?" He sounded worried about himself and Grimmjow laughed softly, sitting down beside him and putting an arm around his shoulders.

"It's normal for you." He said and Ichigo frowned. "It's mostly a personality thing, partly a phase of life thing. You prefer to be a submissive. Rocca's like that too, it's nothing to be ashamed of. And submissive doesn't mean weak. A beta defending his or her cubs is scary as hell!" Grimmjow shuddered theatrically as Ichigo managed a smile. "Honestly, it has a lot to do with personalities and how people click. Rin is beta to Van, but that doesn't mean she would be beta to anyone else." Rin was deeply in love with her mate. If he somehow died, she might not take the role of beta again. Ichigo nodded, a bit more naturally this time.

"Okay, that makes sense. I don't think I would want to submit to anyone but you." He said and Grimmjow nuzzled him affectionately. "This is a really good nest, isn't it?" Ichigo said, moving the topic on to something lighter. Grimm glanced around and nodded.

"Yeah, I love the artwork." He had no talent in that area but he could appreciate it and Vandular had spent a long, long time working on the walls of his cave. He'd also excavated a secondary den meant for adult playtime. Now they were putting in another, which had meant ruining a bunch of carvings but Van had just shrugged it away. The new room meant he would have a spot for new art. And his work was actually better than Rocca's, in a lot of ways. It was definitely more tasteful.

"Grimm, what is going on between Nel and Rocca?" Ichigo suddenly asked and he winced a bit, trying to think of what to say. "They almost smell like… but it's ridiculous. Rocca wouldn't do something like that." He said firmly and Grimmjow hesitated.

"She's not a little girl, you know." He said and Ichigo turned a horrified look on him. "You need to stop thinking of her as a cub, shinigami. She knows what she's doing."

"What! They are?!" Ichigo looked ready to storm out and do something horrible to Rocca but Grimmjow put a hand on his shoulder, holding him back. "Grimm! Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because I thought you would freak." He growled. Clearly he'd been dead right about that. "Seriously, she's not a baby. They've been mating in her adult form." He'd accidentally gotten a glimpse so he knew that was true, not that he'd ever believe Rocca was into little kids. Ichigo looked at him, clearly deeply troubled.

"It just seems wrong." He finally said and Grimmjow sighed. He wasn't surprised that Ichigo didn't understand. It was a bit odd, even for hollows. But…

"Nel wants someone to love her and so does Rocca. Don't take that away from them." He said softly and saw Ichigo bite his lip. The shinigami finally nodded, reluctantly. "She's missing her brothers, too." Nel wanted something permanent, something she could count on. Rocca seemed to be it and Grimmjow thought he was a very good bet. They honestly suited each other.

"Oyahah!" Masahiko said, or at least that was what it sounded like to Grimm. He looked down with a grin and the baby gave him a toothless grin right back. "Mahhh!"

"Oh yeah? Tell me more." Grimmjow said and the little one was glad to comply. Ichigo laughed, cuddling the baby in his arms. "OooOoo? Not sure I understand. Is that something good?" He said playfully, letting Masahiko have a finger to hold. The baby brought it to his mouth and gummed it. "Ah, drool! Drool!"

"Oh, come on, we lick each other off all the time. He's just trying to clean you, isn't he?" Ichigo smiled at his offspring and laughed as he started to chew. "Or maybe he's trying to eat you."

"Oi, going to eat your sire? That's rude." Grimmjow told Masahiko and he let go with a pop before babbling again. "Can I hold him?"

"Of course." Ichigo gave him the baby and Grimmjow tucked him into his arms with the ease of practice. He was getting very accustomed to caring for his pequino rey. The only blot on his happiness was the shinigami. He was sure they would be back.

Hopefully, they would be ready.

* * *

"Hm?" Mayuri was examining his new equipment with a frown. "Of all the… they've left that infernal desert!" He sounded almost affronted and Zaraki laughed as Shunsui smiled. He was glad that they wouldn't have to go back there. Byakuya frowned.

"Why would they come back to the mountains?" He asked and Kyoraku frowned thoughtfully. That was definitely an interesting question. That hot desert had been insanely difficult for them to search and, presumably, the Espada did not want to be found. So why had he moved?

"Perhaps Ichigo got away from him?" He hazarded. "Or the Espada got away from Ichigo?" They still weren't quite sure who had captured whom. Ichigo's hollow had to be in control so he might actually be the aggressor.

"Does it matter? Let's go get him." Zaraki said which was practical enough. They started out, Mayuri tracking Ichigo easily with his scanner.

Soon, they would bring their wandering boy home.

* * *

"Shit!" Grimmjow swore as he felt the familiar energies homing in on them. The shinigami were hiding themselves well but he had cut his teeth on the hollows of Hueco Mundo. And, well, one of the shinigami was clearly a piker at concealing his reiatsu. It was painfully obvious.

"Oh, why did Van go hunting right now?" Rin sounded distraught and Grimmjow nodded grimly. Vandular had left an hour or so ago. He'd no doubt feel it when they started to fight but then he'd have to get back. As fast as the vasto lorde moved, he might make it before the battle was over. He might not, too. Grimmjow didn't like that one little bit.

"Rin, stay here with Masahiko." He quickly decided. With Vandular out of the nest the responsibility fell on him as the second strongest. She looked ready to protest but he gave her a hard stare. "If anything happens to your cub Vandular will skin us." And rightly so. "And if anything happens to us, take care of our pequino rey." He wanted Ichigo by his side for this. The shinigami nodded, handing over the white little baby. He was fussing, sensing the tension in the air.

"I'mma comin' too!" Nel said, gripping Rocca's shoulder. He rested a hand on her back before murmuring something to her, but she shook her head obstinately. "No! Not going to let you get hurt." She said firmly and Rocca gently patted her on the head.

"Let her come." Grimmjow said firmly, giving Rocca a hard stare. He understood the urge to protect his mate, but now was the time to use the power Nel had been storing. He glanced at Ichigo who looked back at him with a very familiar, determined gleam in his eyes. "Let's get moving." He had an idea for where to ambush the shinigami.

And it was an ambush. They clearly had some sort of tracker, but Grimm and Rocca were experienced hunters. He'd been training Ichigo and when Nel was trying to hide, she was damned near undetectable. So they managed to get the drop of the shinigami and Grimmjow grinned as he launched his attack. He was taking on the shinigami with the funny kimono and the hat. Rocca was taking on the guy with the spiky hair, who really seemed to be enjoying it, and Nel's power erupted in a burst before she drew her sword and took on the shinigami with the paper clips in his hair. That left Ichigo to face the guy with the weird makeup.

Then something unexpected happened. The shinigami with the face paint was ready for the hybrid and there was a loud pop and a cloud of some kind of smoke. Grimmjow couldn't spare that much attention, heavily engaged with the shinigami. He was very strong… Grimmjow's eyes narrowed as he gripped his sword.

"Grind, Pantera!" He called on his first release then just as quickly… "Segunda Etapa!" He was going to need that power to defeat this man. Then his eyes widened as he saw his enemy had two swords now? Two wickedly sharp scimitars, but he wasn't going to let that deter him.

Things started to go bad at that point. Grimmjow was ignorant of Kyoraku's 'games' and had to learn the hard way, just as Starrk had done. The wind attack was annoying and difficult to break free from, but the attack from the shadows was really bad. Grimmjow was stabbed, very badly, before he realized what the shinigami had done. Snarling in rage he let his reiatsu flow and attacked full force, driving the other man back. He hoped Vandular would get here soon. They desperately needed his power!

Then Grimmjow was distracted as he saw Ichigo collapse. Something had been off since that gas cloud had surrounded him but the Espada had been too concentrated on staying alive to pay attention to it. Now he knew the situation was dire and he tried to help, but that was a mistake. He simply couldn't take his eyes off Kyoraku but he did it anyway, firing off a cero at Mayuri. Grimmjow paid for it a moment later as a black blade crunched into his side, just barely missing something vital. It did catch his lung, though, and he gagged on blood as he jerked away and whirled. He had to keep fighting. He had to!

Then there was a loud pop and Grimmjow felt a moment of despair as he realized that Nel had exhausted her energy. The shinigami she was facing had to abort his strike, realizing he now faced a little girl. She tried to grab his leg, crying, but it was pointless. He shunpo'd away easily and Grimmjow suddenly found himself facing two taichou. The young vasto lorde's situation went from bad to hopeless as he struggled to keep up with Byakuya's shikai as well as Kyoraku's. He lost the battle and went down in a spray of blood. As he fell, he heard Rocca's scream of pain and Nel's crying. Focusing all his energy on just staying alive, he let his resurrection fade along with his consciousness.

There was nothing more he could do.

* * *

"That was a good fight." Kenpachi grinned as he poked the fallen vasto lorde with the tip of his sword. Kyoraku frowned as he looked over the creature. It had curled up into a tight ball, for all the world like a pill bug. There was a puddle of red blood spreading beneath it and he honestly wasn't sure if it was fatally wounded or not. It was still alive at the moment.

All of their enemies were still alive at the moment although the Espada was in extremely poor shape. Shunsui was glad of Byakuya's intervention. He'd been winning but the creature had definitely been giving him a hard time. And speaking of which…

"The Espada is under a sentence of death for his crimes against Soul Society." He stated and winced slightly as the little hollow child cried and began to beg them to spare her 'Grimm-papi'. "But what should we do with these two?" He gestured to the toddler and the fallen vasto lorde. Mayuri grinned, clapping his hands together.

"They would be excellent test subjects! Particularly the vasto lorde. I have several arrancar but it would be fascinating to compare them to an unbroken example of the highest level of their kind." He said cheerfully and Shunsui glanced around. Zaraki just shrugged as Byakuya looked indifferent. It was only a hollow, so he didn't particularly care either. Mayuri could have it if he wanted.

"And the child as well?" He gazed down at the little thing, who looked up at him with big, teary eyes. "Although… you would be Nel?" He asked her and she sniffled before nodding. "You can't experiment on her, Mayuri. We should probably take her though… she wouldn't survive here." Ichigo and the others must have been protecting her. He gently scooped her up and gave her a warm, reassuring smile. "You'll be safe with us, child."

"B-But Grimm-papi! Rocca!" Tears were building in her eyes again and Kyoraku tried to comfort her. He understood the pain she was feeling but… life was hard, sometimes. And they had their orders. He glanced at Byakuya who easily got the message and stepped over to the prone Espada. He had reverted back to his human form, still alive despite being badly battered and covered in his own blood. Byakuya lifted his sword and –

Kyoraku and Kenpachi were both shocked as blood exploded from their fellow taichou's chest. Byakuya collapsed as Shunsui dropped the child arrancar, drawing his sword again. He had no time to release it as something white and deadly charged him with murderous intent. He barely blocked the lightning fast claws and then the creature whirled, catching Kenpachi's sword in its hands and holding it off with strength alone. Then it roared into Zaraki's face, sending his hair back and causing stones to rumble and fall in the far off mountains. Shunsui had never seen such a taken-aback expression on Zaraki's face before.

"Flower Wind Rage and Flower God Roar, Heavenly Wind Rage and Heavenly Demon Sneer!" He released his sword again as quickly as possible as a crackle of lightning was directed at Mayuri. His fellow taichou parried the blast but it sent him back several feet. Shunsui cast his wind attack at the stranger before leaping in the air, intending to take advantage of his shikai's games.

He couldn't know that attacking Vandular with wind was a bit like trying to drown a fish by pouring water on it. The circle of winds surrounding the vasto lorde abruptly turned black as he overwhelmed the zanpakuto's reiatsu with his own. Then with a throwing gesture he tossed the winds back at Kyoraku. They crackled with electricity and he was forced to abandon the high ground, giving up the advantage of his shikai.

The hollow they were facing was like a whirlwind, a dervish of claws and power. Mayuri called up his shikai but couldn't land a single blow, not letting him use its venom. Zaraki and Kyoraku were only scratching the creature and he seemed to quickly grasp the nature of Shunsui's shikai.

"You like to play with shadows, shinigami?" A warm, surprisingly pleasant voice said. Black and gold eyes met grey before the hollow's reiatsu rose to an almost painful level. "Then there will be no shadows." Then he cast a ball of pure black reiatsu towards the heavens. It spread across the sky like a blot of inky darkness, removing any illumination from the moon and stars. It did remove the shadows, by plunging them into darkness. Then clouds began to boil up and the wind began to rise. Shunsui had a very bad feeling about where this might be going.

He was not disappointed. Zaraki had to dodge as a lightning bolt lanced down from the sky, sending bits and pieces of stone flying and leaving after images in Kyoraku's eyes. There was the cry of a demented baby as Mayuri summoned his bankai, but it was no more effective than their other attacks. Vandular countered the cloud of poison easily, sending a screaming wind back at the scientist and his bankai. Mayuri got out of harms' way but Ashisogi Jizo ended up caught in a cyclone, crying as it was sent through the air. Vandular launched himself into the sky with a few powerful wingbeats and grasped the lightning's, causing the cyclone to erupt in brilliant light.

"Oh dear." Mayuri regarded his broken sword with mild vexation. "That will take so long to fix." A broken bankai could not actually be repaired but it could be remodeled, by someone of his abilities. However, it would take him some time. "Hmm." He considered the ongoing fight, rubbing his chin. Then he glanced up at the sky. "Such power." If he was going to compare it to anything, he would have to compare it to Aizen Sosuke's before he absorbed the Hogyoku. Or, perhaps, Soutaichou Yamamoto.

But why would such a monster be fighting on behalf of the Espada and his companions? Mayuri didn't know but he could see they were actually on the brink of losing. Kyoraku was being pressured hard and Zaraki was enjoying himself to an unwholesome extent. While that was no doubt stimulating the man's tiny brain, Mayuri didn't think that Kenpachi's lust for battle was a good reason to continue this conflict. A way to end it easily occurred to him and he smiled to himself. If he was wrong about the vasto lorde, the creature would likely just ignore him. But if he was right…

"You are… fucking tough!" Kenpachi said with a grin as the dragon hollow lashed out at him with lightnings. There was no reply, only a kick from a clawed foot that might have disembowled him, if it had landed. It ripped through his uniform and Zaraki laughed. He'd removed his eyepatch to fight with the first vasto lorde, so he was already going all out on this one.

"Black!" Kyoraku called, trying to use his shikai again. But there was a wave of black and gold reiatsu, and it overwhelmed Katen Kyokotsu's spiritual pressure. That was the brute force method of escaping Shunsui's shikai and the monster used his bony arms to clash with his swords. There was a burst of electricity and Shunsui was momentarily blinded. A movement almost too quick to follow had him on his back and –

Kyoraku blinked as the hollow above him suddenly stopped, sharp claws pressing against his throat. That bone covered head was turned to the side, looking at something and Shunsui carefully turned his head to follow the gaze. His breath caught as he saw what was going on.

"Mayuri! What the fuck?" Kenpachi had spotted it too and was scowling, his sword down. The scientist just grinned. He had an unconscious Ichigo in front of him, his broken sword pressed firmly against his throat. Even as they watched a few small drops of blood welled up from the pressure.

"Now, hollow. I have no idea why you're fighting for this trash, and I don't care." Mayuri said pleasantly as black and gold eyes narrowed. "But I presume Kurosaki means something to you. Let us leave with him, or I'll kill him." For a very brief moment the pressure on Shunsui's throat increased and he wondered if Mayuri had miscalculated. But then the hollow slowly withdrew his claws, stepping back. The wind around them died down as he banked his reiatsu.

"You threaten the life of your friend?" He asked and Shunsui winced at the cold anger in that otherwise pleasant voice. He couldn't even blame the vasto lorde. This was unacceptable… although he wasn't going to contradict Mayuri in front of their enemy. Kenpachi had no such qualms.

"Yeah, what the fuck? If you kill him I'll rip your goddamn head off!" Zaraki said and Mayuri looked slightly annoyed before pressing the blade a bit harder. The hollow took an involuntary step forward as more blood flowed.

"I am unmoved by your threats, Zaraki. And this brat isn't my friend. He's their friend, not mine. I won't hesitate to kill him." He said and the scientist sounded very sincere. Kyoraku silently prayed the hollow wouldn't call his bluff. He didn't think Kurotsuchi ever bluffed, not really. He was always willing to follow through. Fortunately, though, the vasto lorde seemed to come to the same conclusion. He stepped back and his reiatsu dropped to a level similar to the vanquished vasto lorde or the Espada. "Stop just standing there and get Byakuya." Mayuri ordered and Kenpachi scowled before slinging his sword over his shoulder and going for his fellow taichou. He was still alive, although just barely. "Leave the others." While the battle had been going on, Nel had puked all over Grimmjow. Now she was at the other vasto lorde's side, begging him to uncurl so she could throw up on him as well. Kyoraku nodded, pushing himself to his feet as he kept an eye on the vasto lorde. He was standing utterly still, watching them with a homicidal glint in those black and gold eyes.

But he did nothing as Mayuri reopened the garganta, most likely because the scientist kept his weapon snug against Ichigo's unconscious body. Kenpachi was clearly very pissed off at the tactic and Shunsui honestly wasn't happy either… but he was glad to be alive. That hollow had been very close to ending his life. If this was how they would survive and get away with their lost boy, then so be it.

The garganta was already closing when Vandular spoke, uttering words that would have sent a chill up Kyoraku's spine. But the shinigami were gone, which was exactly how Vandular wanted it. He would not give them warning of his plans.

"This isn't over." He said softly to the empty air, his voice a deadly promise. Then he went to Rocca's side, gently infusing the other hollow with his reiatsu and encouraging him to uncurl for Nel.

He would tend to everyone's wounds before taking action.


	8. The Race Begins

"I'm going with you." Blue eyes met black and gold and there was no give in either.

"You are not." Vandular was unbending. Grimmjow had to resist the urge to grab one of his ears and give a yank. It was tempting but also dumb as hell. "You have duties here. Will you make your child an orphan?" He asked and Grimmjow scowled before glancing at Masahiko. He was safe in Rin's arms and she was nursing him. As well fed as she was, her body could spare the substance for his pequino rey. Which was good, it would take some time for Nel's stores of power to be replenished. They were feeding her as much as they could, but there was a limit to how much she could eat. If Rin hadn't been able to feed him they would have had to try putting him on solids early. That usually worked just fine for adjuchas but Van said it almost always failed for vasto lorde. The thought made Grimmjow shiver a little. Watching his little one starve to death would have killed him.

"Rin and Rocca can care for him." Grimmjow said stubbornly. It might not be ideal but Rin and Rocca were both very fond of Masahiko. "And Nel will help them." When she got her adult form back, she would be fine help. Vandular just looked at him, those black and gold eyes glittering in a way that made him feel a bit nervous. But he met that gaze stubbornly. He might not be the alpha but he wasn't backing down. Vandular wasn't either, though, and he finally decided to assert his authority.

"Grimmjow, I am ordering you. Stay here and guard your child and my coming pup." The dragon said, his voice firm and a touch cold. Grimmjow swallowed any hot words, reminded that this was the power that had easily crushed him. "If something happens to me it will be your duty to raise my cub. I expect you to care for the pup as if it was your own. You understand?"

"…Yes." Grimmjow finally choked out, wishing he could do something more. He had a dark suspicion that Vandular thought he would slow him down, get in his way. That really grated on the Espada because he knew it was probably true. "What are you going to do, anyway? You almost managed to defeat three of them but you know there are thirteen Divisions, right?" He asked, just to goad the other hollow. That made Vandular laugh. The sound was dark and frightening, reminding Grimmjow ever so slightly of Ichigo's hollow voice. The impression vanished a moment later as the dragon spoke. His voice was warm and pleasant again, amused and anticipatory.

"I know precisely what I will face. Do you understand how the balance of the worlds works?" He asked and Grimmjow blinked. He'd never cared a bit about things like that. Vandular seemed to read that in his expression and chuckled softly. "Of course not… for every powerful shinigami, there is a powerful vasto lorde. For every potential bankai wielder, there is a power here. I am the equivalent of the most powerful shinigami, so I know there is someone in Soul Society who is fully my equal." He said calmly and Grimmjow swallowed at the thought. What would happen if such powers clashed? Nothing good… but it would happen in Soul Society, not Hueco Mundo. They could deal with the fallout. "I will be stealthy, searching from the shadows and questioning the shinigami I come across. Sooner or later, one of them will know where Ichigo is. Then I will steal him away and bring him back. I am very capable at concealing my reiatsu." He said confidently but Grimmjow greeted it with skepticism.

"Completely?" He had his doubts. Then Vandular closed his eyes for a moment and lowered his reiatsu until it was barely a whisper on the winds. Grimmjow was honestly impressed. "That is really good." He could do it about as well, but he had less to conceal than the older hollow. "Well, I can't stop you anyway. Good luck." He said gruffly as he looked at his feet, feeling like a bit of a failure. Vandular hesitated a moment before touching his shoulder and he twitched, looking up at the other hollow.

"Grimmjow, you are the only other fit to be alpha here. Rocca's personality is not suited to it and Rin will be denning. Please, I need you here." He said softly and Grimmjow hesitated as he thought about it. The other vasto lorde did have a point. Rocca just wasn't a dominant type and while Rin could probably be a good alpha, she was bearing a cub. That would make the pack dynamics all messed up and while they would probably adapt to it, it would be much better to have a strong alpha in charge. He met Van's eyes again and saw the plea for him to understand. Taking a deep breath, he gave the other hollow a nod.

"I get it. I'll take care of them." He said and really meant it, this time. Van let go of his arm with a nod and went to say his goodbye's to Rin. There were a few love nips and encouraging words, including a gentle hand on her belly. It was still too soon to really feel the cub but Van was trying and Grimmjow smiled to himself. He knew the feeling. He watched as Vandular made a garganta and disappeared, going to Soul Society. Hopefully, he would find Ichigo and manage to bring him back. If not, it would be because the old terror had died. Grimmjow was certain of that.

Van was not going to allow the shinigami to keep his pup.

* * *

Ichigo yanked on his chains and indulged in some vicious swear words. He'd mostly picked them up from Grimmjow, although he didn't know what all of them meant.

The thought of his mate brought a deep pain to his heart. He longed to see his grin again, know he was alright, and to hold Masahiko in his arms. But Grimmjow might be dead. He knew that with a sick certainty and the thought enraged him. Rocca might be dead too and that thought hurt him only a bit less. Even little Nel… he had to get back to his pack. He had to!

But he couldn't. The chains were very sturdy and the thick collar around his neck was made of some kind of stone that seemed to suck all his power away. They'd taken his sword away and he couldn't speak to Zangetsu at all. Ichigo squirmed for a moment before stopping. He wasn't doing anything other than chafing his wrists.

Two people entered the prison cell and he looked up sharply, frowning at them. One was a very short girl with black hair and the other was a strong looking man with bright red hair and intricate tattoos. Ichigo blinked at that, remembering…

"… _you used to hang out with this midget with black hair, I don't know what her name was… there was this guy with red hair and lots of tats, I call him the spiky pineapple. You'll know what I mean when you see him…"_

"Ichigo, are you there?" The girl asked hopefully and he blinked again, turning his attention on them. What did that mean?

"Of course I am. Where else would I be?" He asked, confused, and the two of them exchanged a glance. "You're the midget." He said and she stared at him for a moment before punching him in the belly. "OW!" He hadn't anticipated that reaction. She was scowling at him.

"How dare you!" She said and Ichigo noticed that the redhead was grinning. "That's beyond rude! Don't you remember my name, Ichigo?" Well, since she'd asked…

"No. Who are you?" He said directly and they both stared at him, shocked. Then the redhead spoke.

"It must be his hollow. He might not know us." He said which caused Ichigo to lose his patience. He couldn't feel his hollow at all, why was everyone so intent on blaming everything on him?

"You aren't speaking to my hollow! I'm not sure he's even here. I got hurt, okay?" He snapped as they both looked at him. "My head was almost cracked open – ow! Hey, what?" The redhead had gripped his head and was searching through his hair with his fingers. Ichigo was tempted to try biting him but he held off. He knew what the other man was doing, he was trying to verify his story.

"Holy shit. There is one hell of a scar back here, Rukia." He said quietly before letting go and Ichigo shook his head, glaring at them both. "Did Grimmjow do that to you?"

"What? No!" Ichigo said, repulsed by the thought. "I can't remember it, but Grimmjow told me I was almost killed by an insane arrancar. It was a vasto lorde before Aizen broke its mask." He told them and Rukia frowned as the redhead scratched his head. "Grimmjow found me when I was dying and brought me back to health."

"Why would the Espada do that?" The redhead asked and Ichigo hesitated a moment. What had been Grimm's reasons at the time?

"Oh… right. He ate the vasto lorde and made vasto lorde himself. It was kind of a thank you for making him more powerful. And he wanted to fight me again." He said, smiling a bit as he remembered. Somehow, the desire to fight him had completely vanished, turning into something else completely. "Is Grimmjow alright?" He asked anxiously, fear knotting up his guts. Had they killed him? Rukia smiled at him but it was marred with tension.

"I'm sure he's fine. All the hollows were alive when we brought you back here." She said, conveniently leaving out the fact that they hadn't actually intended to leave Grimmjow alive. And Rocca's fate could have been even worse, as one of Mayuri's experimental subjects. Ichigo couldn't know that, though, and he looked relieved. "Ichigo, we'll help you remember. You need to go home to your family." She said and that made him scowl.

"No, I need to go back to my pack!" He snapped as his mind went back to Masahiko. Could his pequino rey live without him? Probably, with Rin and Nel to feed him but the thought still filled him with anxiety. "I have a family in Hueco Mundo, I need to go back to them." Some caution told him not to mention his son to them. They would want to know how he'd been born and shinigami weren't supposed to give birth like that. It might cause more problems, not just for himself but for his pack and he would NOT place them in more danger.

"Ichigo, you know you have a real family, right? A father and two sisters?" The redhead said worriedly and Ichigo frowned, looking away.

"I know… Grimmjow told me I had a sire and two littermates." He said in a low tone and missed the look the shinigami exchanged at the hollow terms. "But I don't remember them. What if I never do? And I can't leave Grimmjow. I'm his… fraccion." He said, quickly deciding to leave out the fact that they were lovers. That was another thing the shinigami didn't need to know. "He's my… my mentor." He said, trying to translate it into shinigami. "I'm sorry, what's your name?" He hadn't caught it yet.

"I'm Renji. But Ichigo, everyone leaves their… mentor sooner or later." The redhead said and Ichigo winced. A better word was 'lover' and he knew it, but he didn't want to go there with them.

"He means more to me than that… it's complicated." He said hopelessly. They just wouldn't understand. "Please, I have to go back to them!" Thinking about Masahiko was driving him almost insane with worry. He tried to put every bit of pleading he could into his face and voice. "Please, if you're my friends, help me!"

"Ichigo… you're not in your right mind. If you could remember, you wouldn't be acting like this." Rukia said gently and Ichigo shook his head with a scowl. He didn't believe that. Sure, his decision might be harder but he would never abandon his own child! "We'll talk about it after you have your memory back." She promised and he bit his lip at the thought. He was afraid they would try to remove his memories of his pack, his little son. Was that even possible?

"Yeah, don't worry. You'll be back to normal in no time!" Renji said cheerfully and Ichigo glared at him.

"I am normal – HEY! Where are you going?" He demanded but they didn't listen, just leaving the cell, leaving him chained to the wall. "…Fuckers." He muttered before indulging in a few more swear words. Then he frowned up at the shackles, trying to think of some way to get out.

He had to get home to his pequino rey.

* * *

"What have you learned?" Yamamoto asked Mayuri. The scientist almost beamed. He was having a wonderful time, finally getting a chance to really examine Ichigo. Not to mention the Visored. Kensei and Shinji had reluctantly submitted to examinations when he'd told them he needed to compare the young Visored to a 'pure' specimine.

"A great deal! To begin with, Kurosaki's story of his amnesia seems to be almost completely true. There are marks of severe head trauma, including a healed skull fracture. It could have been fatal but apparently the Espada possesses healing saliva." Someone made a gagging sound but Kurotsuchi ignored it. Really, that was a sadly weak stomach for a warrior. "According to Kurosaki, he was feeding on hollows after that. I believe that is why his reiatsu has changed."

"The nature of the changes?" Byakuya asked as Mayuri paused, looking almost dreamy as he contemplated his findings. Byakuya was healed enough to be ambulatory but had not returned to his duties just yet. He'd insisted in joining this meeting, however. Renji was by his side, attentive to his taichou.

"His reiatsu is far more like an arrancar than a Visored." Kurotsuchi reported, which made Yamamoto frown. "His connection to his zanpakuto appears to have weakened significantly while his connection to his hollow has deepened. That's why I said his story about his amnesia is _almost_ true. I'm certain he did lose his memory at first, but now it appears that his hollow is actively suppressing it." He said, which caused a small stir.

"So if we suppress his hollow, we can return his memories?" Ukitake asked and Mayuri nodded.

"I believe so. However, he may lose some time in the process." He said then had to amplify as several people looked confused. "Kurosaki is still in control at the moment, but the definition between himself and his hollow has become blurred. If we cause them to separate again, it's quite likely he will forget many of the things he has experienced in the meantime."

"That would be good, wouldn't it?" Kenpachi said and Kurotsuchi shrugged as Unohana frowned. "He doesn't need to remember those hollows. Just a hassle." They all knew about Ichigo's pleadings to be allowed to return to his 'pack.' Unohana nodded reluctantly.

"It is slightly unethical, but leaving him with no memory of his family would be even worse. And I cannot imagine we would be able to convince his hollow to allow those memories to return." She said softly and everyone agreed. Mayuri grinned as he received his new orders… to suppress Ichigo's hollow and return his memories.

"I know exactly how. It should be done within an hour." He said happily. He'd already planned out his approach. "Nemu, come!" He swept out of the meeting room, heading back towards his Division.

He didn't much care about Kurosaki, but he'd already examined him thoroughly. It was time to finish with this specimen and send him on his way.

* * *

Several days later, in the woods outside the Rukongai

"Hm." Vandular made a small sound of displeasure as he licked the blood off his claws. The dead shinigami in front of him was unworthy of his attentions, not even making the cut for a light snack. But he would take the man's soul anyway. He had fought well for the little power he had and his valor was beyond question. He'd also stood up to questioning well, which Van respected, as little as he might like it.

Vandular was not a cruel creature by nature. He fought as needed and killed swiftly, without inflicting undue pain. Yet, he was also practical. If he wanted to question shinigami, he had to silence them when he was done. He had no mind altering powers, no way to erase the knowledge of him from their minds. And sadly, he had few tools of persuasion at his disposal. He tried to talk to them, convince them it was in their best interest to speak to him without pain, but few shinigami would listen.

Sensing a trace of power where there should be none, Van leapt away from his kill before a blade could bisect him. Turning with easy grace, he saw the shinigami glaring at him. He was a young man with black hair and an odd tattoo on his cheek. The weapons he was using were two great blades, connected with a chain. Vandular could sense a much greater strength in this man than the one he'd just killed and that pleased him.

"Perhaps you will have the knowledge I seek." He said before attacking. Blades clashed with claws as Van drove the shinigami back. Leaves fluttered as a wind began to rise. Vandular had to dodge as the blades tried to encircle him. It was a very unusual weapon the shinigami was using, like nothing he had seen before. But he would adapt to it.

And so he did. The shinigami attempted to entangle him in the chain, clearly meaning to drag him close for a finishing blow. Vandular let the chains circle his throat but set his feet on the ground, pulsing his reiatsu into the soil and finding bedrock. The shinigami might as well have been trying to move the world and brown eyes went wide as he grasped the chain and gave a hard yank, dragging the shinigami into his waiting fist. There was an outflow of air, a ragged woof and the man hit the ground, dazed and in considerable pain. For a moment he couldn't move, and that was enough. Vandular was there, claws pressed firmly against a pale throat.

"Now, I have a question for you." He said softly as the shinigami looked up at him in confusion. "Where is Kurosaki Ichigo?" Grey eyes widened and Van felt like the shinigami was really seeing him for the first time.

"You're that dragon hollow Kyoraku and the others met in Hueco Mundo!" He said and Vandular nodded slightly. "Why do you want Ichigo so much?" He asked and the ancient hollow hesitated, thinking of how to word his reply.

"He is, in a sense, my son." He said and sighed to himself as he saw nothing but confusion on the man's face. "It is not meaningful. Please, answer my question. I do not enjoy causing pain but I will if necessary." He said in a gentle, reasonable tone. The shinigami under his claws scowled.

Just as he was about to respond, Vandular sensed something. Acting out of a combination of instinct and cunning, he leapt to the side, taking the young shinigami's weapon with him. Metal broke as he dragged his claws over the zanpakuto, and he dropped the pieces just as a new shinigami attacked. This one was stronger, much stronger than the one he'd defeated. A male with silvery hair, he was wearing a garment similar to the ones the ancient hollow had fought in Hueco Mundo. He was entirely ignorant of how shinigami ranked themselves, but he knew he was fighting a greater power. And yet…

_There is something strange about him. Familiar?_ The feeling that he _knew_ this shinigami puzzled the dragon greatly. Blades of wind ripped around him but, as always, wind was his friend. He seized control of them and sent them back, shocking the shinigami. He leapt away before reaching up and… _what?_

As he saw the white mask of bone, Vandular suffered a great shock. His mind abruptly made the connection to Ichigo and recognized the scent that touched the shinigami. It was light, much lighter than what he'd sensed from the teen but still there. Still achingly familiar, singing to old parental instincts. The emotion it roused in him was mostly rage, although not directed at his opponent. No, it was directed at whoever had done this to him… and to his little one.

"Enough!" Vandular summoned the full power of his reiatsu, heedless of who might feel. The shinigami lurched as the power within him responded, bathing him in a black and red light that was very similar to Van's black and gold. A strange, viscous liquid suddenly flowed from his body, forming strange rods of bone on his back. It was nothing like his son, but Ichigo's hollow mask did not closely resemble him either. The shinigami fell to his knees, his eyes glowing black and gold as the hollow within him took full control. "My little one." Van gently gripped the man's chin, tilting his head back so he could meet those eyes. Eyes that were just like his own… and not like many other hollows in Hueco Mundo. "What has happened to you? Who did this?" He asked, distracted from his mission. But he had to know. Whoever was responsible for this would suffer greatly. The voice that spoke was strange and grating.

"Aizen Sosuke." Van tilted his head to one side, a silent question and the remnant of his son continued. "He was a traitor to the shinigami. He is imprisoned now… he is immortal or they would have killed him. He will not be released for twenty thousand years."

"That is not enough." Vandular said in a cold, implacable voice. "Anything that lives can die. I will meditate on the matter." If his child had died in the normal course of things, falling to another hollow, he would have nothing to say. Or even if he had died on a shinigami's blade, Vandular would simply have accepted the loss. That was the way of things. This… defilement did not sit well with him. "Now tell me. Where is Kurosaki Ichigo? Where is the largest piece of you?" Because this shinigami contained only the smallest part of his offspring. Kurosaki had something much stronger, so large that Vandular had mistaken it for the whole.

"Kensei, no!" Van ignored the other shinigami, intent on the one in front of him. His son would answer his question whether the shinigami wanted him to or not.

"He has gone back to the Living World, to be with his friends and family. He cannot remember you." The shinigami said and Van nodded thoughtfully. "He is in Karakura town."

"I see. I know that place." He had been there once, to steal a new body covering. It was a high reishi environment and modestly acceptable to a hollow of his stature. Most of the Living world made him feel rather ill. "Now…" He regarded the shinigami in front of him with a frown, hidden behind his mask of bone. He could not kill this man, which posed a problem. "I am sorry. This will hurt." Carefully calculating the amount of energy necessary, he zapped the man with his lightning. The bone mask shattered, revealing stunned brown eyes. Those eyes rolled back as the man fell forward and Vandular caught him, easing him to the ground. "Now, for you." He turned to the other man who readied himself, reaching for… the thing he was wearing on his neck? Van wondered if it was a weapon, but it didn't matter. He had no intention of killing this man either. Instead, he called the lightning to his claws again. It was a bit more difficult without a willing subject, but soon the younger shinigami was unconscious as well. Concentrating, he made the garganta to the Living World. Soul Society would sense it, but it didn't matter. They would find these two soon enough.

It was a race.


	9. Remembering the Past

Ichigo tried to concentrate on his homework. His time in Hueco Mundo hadn't really been that long – time passed differently between the realms – but he'd still lost almost three months. It was hard to catch up but his dad and friends were helping. Ishida was tutoring him all the time, now.

But he couldn't concentrate. The sun had already set and the moon was up, shining with a silvery light. Leaving the computer he turned out the lights and sat on his bed, gazing out the window. Looking at the moon gave him a strange, melancholy feeling. He wasn't sure he liked it but he was powerless to resist.

_Ichigo, are you well?_ Zangetsu asked, worry tingeing his voice. Ichigo sighed, not taking his eyes off the crescent moon.

"I'm fine." He said briefly before going silent for a moment. Then he spoke again, letting his thoughts flow. "What happened to me there, Jii-san? Why do I feel so… lost?" All he knew about his time in Hueco Mundo was what the shinigami had told him. That had included a recording of him speaking to Rukia and Renji, so he knew it was true… as far as it went. But why had he been so desperate to go back to Hueco Mundo? And why did he feel so empty now? "I wish I could speak to my hollow." Zangetsu couldn't tell him much. His connection to the zanpakuto had died to almost a whisper, in his time in Hueco Mundo. And the sword spirit seemed strangely reticent about the things he did know. All he would say was that he and Grimmjow had become close.

And his hollow was completely unreachable. Ichigo had tried to use his power sparring with Renji and failed completely. He didn't like it – it felt wrong – but the soul reapers assured him that eventually his connection to his hollow would recover. Apparently, this had been necessary to restore his memories of his friends and family.

Then he frowned as his badge went off. Picking it up he placed it against his chest and left his body. There was a hollow somewhere in Karakura town and he needed to take care of it. Business as usual.

Business as usual turned highly unusual, however, when he saw the hollow. It was flying through the air on great, batlike wings and mumbling to itself. Ichigo actually caught a few words and blinked. Was the thing complaining about the air? Pausing, he studied the monster. There was something vaguely familiar about it but he was sure he'd never seen it before…

_Oh no. Ichigo, flee!_ Ichigo felt a moment of shock at Zangetsu's urgent plea. What on earth…?

"What? I need to take care of the hollow before it hurts anyone!" He hissed at his zanpakuto, concentrating on taking the thing by surprise. For some strange reason, he'd gotten much better at concealing his reiatsu.

_He's not here to harm anyone. He's here for you!_ That made him freeze up momentarily and as good as his skills were, the hollow suddenly veered and banked, clearly detecting him. Ichigo immediately acted, ignoring Zangetsu and trying to crack the thing's mask.

He didn't even come close. It dodged with an elegance that was almost breathtaking before swooping away to land on a nearby building. The great wings were not suited to hovering, although the hollow could probably manage it with reiatsu alone.

"Ah. I thought I would have to find you, but you came to me." The monster sounded pleased and Ichigo scowled as he landed across from it, quickly calling on his bankai. He had a feeling he would need it. "Of course, it is impossible to completely hide a garganta so perhaps I should not be surprised."

"What do you want with me, hollow?" He snapped out and the dragon like creature tilted his head slightly, regarding him through black and gold eyes. They were strangely like his own when he donned his mask… and just like the other Visored. Ichigo suddenly frowned as he thought of that. He'd never seen a hollow with eyes like theirs before, not really. The black sclera were unusual.

"I want you to return to your mate and child, Shiro-hana." He said and the name meant nothing to Ichigo. The hollow seemed to read that in the confusion on his face. "You can't remember anything, can you?"

"No. What do you mean by mate?" The teen asked, feeling a bit of fear rise as he thought about Zangetsu's reticence and his own feelings of loss. "Child…?" Had he actually had sex with an arrancar in Hueco Mundo? But how could that produce a child? He knew he was gay, he'd known for a few years now. The hollow looked away and seemed to consider something.

"There is no time for this. You will come with me, now." He said and Ichigo yelped in surprise as a lightning fast attack followed. Sparks danced along his blade as the hollow drove him back. An immense reiatsu was rising, dark and heavy yet also strangely clean. "We must talk privately."

"This… isn't how you start a friendly chat!" He growled, eyes narrowing in concentration. "Getsuga Tenshou!" His power ripped through the air and the hollow vanished in a sonido so quick it was terrifying. Ichigo found, to his shock, that he could barely keep up even in bankai. It reminded him of the first time he'd faced Grimmjow, but a bit better and a bit worse. Better in that the hollow wasn't trying to beat the shit out of him, just subdue him. Worse in that he was even more overmatched than he'd been the first time.

It didn't take long for him to have a massive failure and he went crashing to the ground. He only made it halfway, though, before he was caught by the same hollow that had knocked him down. Great wingbeats slowed them both and Ichigo was just trying to orient himself before lightning flashed across his vision.

Then there was nothing.

* * *

Vandular sat cross legged in the field of grass and waited for the shinigami to awaken.

It was hard for him to judge time in the Living World. Hueco Mundo had no seasons, so whenever you entered it was a bit of guesswork. But Van knew the spot he had taken the shinigami intimately. And by his reckoning, it was late in the summer, verging on autumn. There was a bite in the air, a hint of coming snows. If he had been a living man he would have worn a light leather jacket to combat the chill. But he was not and his hierro easily defeated any such minor considerations.

The shinigami lying in the grass shivered, but Vandular had no real comfort to offer him. He glanced towards the upraised mound nearby and considered excavating it before discarding the idea. True, he had no doubt been buried in a covering of fine fur. But fur rotted and he was old. If it was still intact after being placed on a corpse then covered in dirt for centuries, he would be shocked.

"Nnngh… stop it goat face…" Van tilted his head as Ichigo muttered in his uneasy sleep. Goat face? That sounded like an insult but it could hardly be directed towards him. Lizard face, perhaps, but he didn't resemble a goat in any way. "Unh… what…" Eyelids fluttered as the shinigami really roused from his forced slumber. "Why is it so cold… hey!" He sat bolt upright, his brown eyes wide as he looked around at the alien landscape. "Where am I?" He seemed a bit stunned. No doubt rolling grasslands, stretching as far as the eye could see, were not something he encountered every day. Vandular cleared his throat and the shinigami staggered to his feet, looking for his sword. "You!"

"Me. Please, seat yourself. If you are too cold I can start a fire." He said gently. It was a rather chilly night. Well, early morning technically. There was a time difference. Ichigo swallowed and shook his head.

"I'm fine… where is Zangetsu?" Ichigo asked but Vandular disregarded the question. The sword was actually buried in the far side of his burial mound, point first. Ancient knowledge and instincts, as well as his blood connection to this ground had let him link the sword to the earth beneath it. Ichigo would not be removing it from the mound until the ancient hollow allowed it.

"It is safe." He said instead and the teen scowled. Then he suddenly started off towards the blade and Vandular wondered if he could sense it. But then, he knew that shinigami zanpakuto were quite literally part of their soul. So perhaps it would not be surprising.

It seemed he could, because Ichigo found the sword effortlessly. Vandular stood nearby and watched with some amusement as he tried many, many things to remove the sword from its spot in the dirt. It was hilarious to watch, particularly when the shinigami braced himself and pulled extremely hard… just to lose his grip and go tumbling down the hill.

"It won't work. This is my burial mound. I have great power over this land." He said and Ichigo looked up at him with a scowl. Vandular couldn't help but contrast his attitude now to the happy young man he'd been in Hueco Mundo. But then, he thought he was facing an enemy. "Please, come sit with me. I will build a fire." It might give the young man some time to relax. Ichigo hesitated but finally went with him, taking a seat in the small clearing he'd made in the long grass.

It didn't take Vandular long to locate what he needed, which was dried animal dung. His sense of smell and eyesight in the dark were much better than they had been when he was alive. Bringing back an armful of the material he set it down, creating a proper spot for the campfire. He could tell from just a glance that the grass around them was tinder dry. He would not allow a spark to escape. With handfuls of grass to act as tinder he finally lit the fire, with just the barest brush of his reiatsu. A trick he'd known as a mortal man, he'd used it sometimes when everyone was exhausted. Van had never believed in showing off his power but helping his kinsmen came first.

"…What is that stuff? The fire smells strange." Ichigo asked, although he wasn't moving away from it. Vandular seated himself with a chuckle.

"Dried dung. There is nothing else to burn here." He explained as the shinigami looked a little horrified. "In Hueco Mundo there is nothing to burn at all." There, of course, they made do with body heat. But he highly doubted that Ichigo would be willing to accept that form of warmth at the moment. "Now. You must remember, Ichigo." He said in a gentle tone and wasn't surprised when the boy scowled.

"So my hollow can make me forget my friends and family again?" He snapped, which surprised the ancient hollow.

"Is that what happened?" He mused, rasping a claw across his bony chin. "That does make sense. Shiro-hana could always be rather selfish." He'd loved his son but knew he had flaws. Everyone did, even himself. "But you have another family, Ichigo." He said and Ichigo looked away, slightly disturbed.

"I… don't really disbelieve you. I asked Zangetsu and he's refusing to answer so that must be at least partly true." He said in a low tone. "But you mentioned a child. How could I have a child? I'm gay." He said with a slight blush and Van nodded. He understood the term and what it signified.

"Hollow reproduction doesn't work that way. Hollows are composed of male and female souls in equal measure, so a 'male' hollow is capable of bearing a child." He explained and Ichigo swallowed hard. "Adjuchas are actually both genders, fully functional hermaphrodites, although mentally they do have a gender. Vasto lorde take on a fully male or female appearance, but they are still capable of functioning as the other gender."

"Wait… so a female vasto lorde could, um, impregnate someone? How?" The shinigami asked, a bit distracted from his original question. Van shrugged.

"Generally by forcing their reiatsu and genetic material through their tongues." He answered and Ichigo looked fascinated and a bit revolted. "Or they can briefly convince their body to change to a male form. That's difficult, though, and requires a very fine control of reiatsu and souls. I can do that – "

"Please don't demonstrate!" Ichigo said hastily and Vandular rumbled a laugh. He wasn't eager to show his son his feminine side, in any case. Shiro-hana had been capable of making a terrible joke out of anything. Ichigo seemed to be more serious but he wasn't eager to test that.

"It isn't necessary for a male hollow in any case. If reiatsu and DNA are accepted, female organs will form to accommodate the fetus." He said and Ichigo shook his head. "And that brings us to you. Your mate was Grimmjow Jaegerjaques, and possessing an inner hollow as well as devouring many hollows made it possible for you to conceive."

"What?! That's absurd!" Ichigo rejected the thought out of hand and Van sighed to himself. This was going to be extremely difficult. "I would never sleep with Grimmjow and I couldn't possibly have been pregnant! I'm human!"

"You are a human who has absorbed the essence of a natural born vasto lorde." He corrected the shinigami who frowned at him. "My little Shiro-hana, my son. Apparently, Aizen Sosuke was responsible. Something I will have to look into… but for now, you are no normal human." Vandular paused, judging the look on Ichigo's face. "…This won't mean anything to you unless you can remember." Even if Ichigo believed him completely, it would be all too easy for him to abandon the mate and child he couldn't remember. "Do you know how to perform Jinzen?" He asked and Ichigo gave him a puzzled look.

"Of course. How do you know about Jinzen?" He asked, which was a rather good question. An unbroken vasto lorde would have no real use for such knowledge. Vandular gazed into the fire for a moment, watching the crackling sparks reaching for the heavens.

"A long time ago, I mated a shinigami woman for a time. She came to me… it was an exciting and dangerous time in my life. Perhaps I will tell you about it some other day." He said, remembering that insanity. It had been a ridiculous thing to do, accepting her offers but he wouldn't change it for the world. "But I know how shinigami powers work. Let us meditate together and try to find your hollow. Not to let him overwhelm you, but so you can remember what was lost." Ichigo frowned, looking into the fire. Vandular gave him time to think about it.

"…Zangetsu thinks I should. Alright." He finally said and Van pushed himself to his feet, moving so he was sitting across from Ichigo. Then he took the teenager's hand and gently offered a bit of his energy. There was a brief resistance and a great deal of suspicion in those brown eyes, but then the youngster relented. Van could have forced his power on the other but that was not the point. This needed to be an awakening.

Closing his eyes, he concentrated on helping Ichigo reach the spirit within.

* * *

"Where am I?" Ichigo whispered as he turned around.

This was his inner world, of course. There was no other place he could be. But this was still nothing like he had ever seen before. Instead of skyscrapers or Karakura town, he was in a room of endless white. It vaguely reminded him of Aizen's fortress but the styling was different. Well, inasmuch as the place had a style. Really, it was nothing but blank white walls and large white floor tiles, also painfully white.

Ichigo finally started walking. There had to be something here… but there were no doors, nothing but this endless white hallway that seemed to stretch on forever.

But then things began to appear. Little snapshots, floating in the air. His eyes wide, Ichigo stopped and watched as they began to float past him. Some of them fluttered to the ground, lying face up and he swallowed as he saw the pictures.

Masaki. Karin and Yuzu. Isshin, Zangetsu, Rukia, Renji… even his hollow, grinning wickedly. These pictures were memories. Reaching out he gently touched the image of his mother…

" _Aren't they beautiful Ichigo?" He looked up with a smile into his mother's beaming face._

" _Uh huh!" Then he looked at the two babies in their crib. "I'll protect them mama!"_

" _Of course you will, Ichigo." She said before hugging him and he giggled at the warmth of her arms…_

"Mom." Ichigo whispered as the replay ended, his brown eyes dark with pain. Taking a deep breath, he kept walking. He needed to find the memories of Hueco Mundo.

But he couldn't. The only memories he found of Hueco Mundo were the ones when he'd gone to rescue Orihime and the only memories he could find of Grimmjow involved trying to kill the bastard, not… mating with him. Ichigo still wondered how that could have happened. Even if he'd been the one on the bottom, why would Grimmjow agree? He'd thought the Espada hated him…

Something jolted him and he looked down at the floor, seeing he'd nearly stumbled over a line of red and black. Surprised, he followed it to the source and saw a little white box. It was closed with a combination lock, but that little line of red and black power had managed to squeeze out. Kneeling beside it he took the lock into his hands. It was strangely familiar.

"It's my lock from school." He realized and hesitated a moment before turning the dial in a familiar motion. He wasn't sure it would work, but it clicked into place. Ichigo hesitated for another moment before carefully opening the lid.

As soon as he did that line of red and black moved. It darted forward and took the memories inside with it, scattering photographs across the floor. Ichigo looked at them, feeling almost helpless. Pictures of Grimmjow, Nel… a strange hollow he didn't know… the dragon hollow and a fox… picking one blindly he braced himself as the memories hit him.

_Walking forever._

_The sands were cold and the mountains were colder, but his companion was warm. Ichigo smiled to himself, admiring Grimmjow's profile. The vasto lorde was oblivious but he'd decided. He was going to mate with him. The thought of those arms around him, those teeth on his throat was just too enticing._

_He was going to have Grimmjow tonight, he thought. When they went to sleep. His released form was so beautiful, and he took it every night…_

Ichigo shook off the memory, dropping the photograph with a stunned feeling. Staring at it wide eyed for a moment, he reached out for another…

" _Wee!" Nel laughed as she was chased by an armored hollow. Ichigo sat back against his rock, enjoying the heat and watching them play. The hollow was letting her stay in front, although he could easily have caught her and put an end to the game. "Catch me Rocca, catch me!"_

" _I'm trying!" The vasto lorde said playfully before finally scooping the eternal child up. "Gotcha! Now it's… tickle time!" Nel dissolved in gales of laughter as the hollow tickled her, her little feet kicking…_

"Rocca." Ichigo whispered as he let the photograph go, blinking rapidly. "Are they…?" Suddenly terrified, he began working through the memories at a frantic pace.

He saw everything. His eyes filling with tears, he reclaimed the memories of his hollow friends, his 'sire', Grimmjow… and Masahiko. Those memories hurt the most. The sharp recollections of that tiny weight in his arms, the black and gold eyes that seemed to radiate absolute trust and love. He had a child. He'd never expected to have a child…

But as painful and as overwhelming as his memories were, there was something strange in the box. A set of things that weren't photographs… they were little pieces of carved stone and bone. They had scattered on the ground right in front of the box and Ichigo looked at them dubiously for a moment. It looked like they were half-shattered. Some had even been partly melted, and others were cracked and crazed. Almost none of the little tiles were intact. Reaching down, he carefully brushed his fingers over one of the more intact pieces.

" _Papi! Fly higher!" He demanded, tugging on brown and gold fur. There was a chuckle beneath him as great wings flapped on either side of his little body._

" _I'm already very high, Shiro-hana. Do you want to touch the moon?" A warm, pleasant voice asked and he beamed at the thought. Touch the moon!_

" _Yeah! Yeah! Let's touch the moon!" He said enthusiastically and there was a laugh beneath him as the hollow he was riding began to go down. "Awww, papi!"_

" _Your mother is waiting for us. She needs the kill and has milk to feed you." That distracted him nicely. Milk!_

" _Food!" He exclaimed, hunkering down on his sire's back. "Go faster papi! Faster!"_

" _So demanding…" But the speed increased, to his pleasure and he squealed as white hair flew in the wind. His papi was the best papi ever…!_

"What…?" Ichigo whispered as his hand left the tile of stone. His hand shaking, he reached out to touch a shard of shattered bone.

" _Fuck you!" His voice was weak and filled with terrible pain. His wrists were tied together behind him, then hung from the ceiling with a chain. Shackles held his ankles in place and his body was stressed from the unnatural position. The shinigami with the dark skin and darker hair just looked at him before touching something. "AUGH!" Pain shot through him again, feeling like it was ripping at his very soul. "S-Stop… please…" Begging came hard to him. He was a prideful creature. But it just hurt so much._

" _A worthless creature like you should be privileged to serve us." The shinigami said and he lifted his head with a feral snarl. He knew exactly what his papi would say to that!_

" _Fuck you! Yer defilin' yer mission. Ya should be purifying my soul not – SHIT!" The pain came again, searing him from the inside out. This time he couldn't stand against it, his head and mind reeling. Before he passed out he heard that cool, uncaring voice speak again._

" _I believe he is almost ready Aizen-sama…"_

"Aizen?" Ichigo whispered, staring at the broken piece of bone. It was cracked and crazed, brutally burned on one end. Then a hand fell on his shoulder. "AH!" His surprise was total. Jerking away he jumped to his feet to face the other.

"Woah! Having a spaz attack King?" The stranger in front of him asked and his eyes went wide as he stared at him. "What, can't you recognize your Horse?"

"…No?" He said after a moment, shocked. His hollow had changed completely. Instead of his white copy, he was a handsome man with a heart shaped face and a rather cute, pert nose. Ichigo thought of himself as handsome enough, but this man was… adorable? Black and gold eyes rolled.

"Oi. Just because I remembered and got my real looks back… not that I looked like this in Hueco Mundo." He examined himself thoughtfully for a moment. "Sorta like I'm an arrancar." He said and Ichigo nodded, glancing the rest of him over. He had very long hair, cascading down his back and stopping just at his buttocks. The clothing he was wearing was white and looked like a variation of Aizen's Espada uniforms. This one was a close fitting jacket that covered his arms and part of his chest, but left most of the alabaster skin bare. His pants were tight fitting trousers and his boots were the typical black and white things all the arrancar wore. There were no mask fragments and no hole, but interestingly, he had a golden stud in the left side of his nose.

"Wait, so you had amnesia too?" Ichigo asked his hollow and the creature sniggered, then laughed. It was his usual insane cackle, not the slightest bit different.

"Too? What d'ya mean _too?_ I've always had amnesia, I only started rememberin' when you forgot!" He said with a sneer and Ichigo scowled. He liked the looks but not the attitude. That was pretty typical of his hollow, though. "And then those fucking shinigami had to ruin it! I was just getting my life back!"

"By taking away mine!" Ichigo snapped back, angry at his hollow. What had Vandular said? He'd always been selfish. But his hollow came right back at him, sounding almost anguished.

"You always have everything! All I get is the fucking scraps, if I get anything at all! And I gave you things! I helped you find a mate and make a pup! You've always wanted a pup!" His hollow said and Ichigo faltered. It was true, he'd always wanted a child… he'd just resigned himself to not having any, except possibly by adoption. And even that was doubtful. He'd met a few other men who were gay, but they weren't spiritually aware and Ichigo was keenly aware of how hard life would be with someone who didn't understand the demands on his time. "Fuck you and fuck Aizen for doing this to me! I'm nothin' but a fuckin' ghost in your head and I hate it! I hate it!" His hollow turned away, hugging himself and Ichigo was shocked into speechlessness for a moment at the pain and anger on his face. His hollow had never seemed so human before.

_Of course he didn't. He couldn't remember._ With his memories, it seemed his hollow had regained his identity and at least part of his… humanity. A strange word to apply to a hollow but he was vasto lorde. Ichigo could see just from Grimmjow how much that jump meant to a hollow's mental maturity. Swallowing hard, he reached out to gently touch the hollow's shoulder. But he pulled away.

"I don't need your fuckin' pity!" He snapped and Ichigo lost his patience. He really didn't like this guy.

"It's not pity you jackass! I'm just trying to comfort you. Not that it's worth trying." He snapped back and the hollow snarled, pale lips lifting away from sharp fangs. "What the hell are we going to do now?" He asked, trying to move things along. "I have a family here but I have a kid there…" It was all a nightmare. He couldn't leave his human family but how could he take care of Masahiko? And Grimmjow… Soul Society would never accept a former Espada as his lover. He looked at his hollow but the white man just shrugged.

"How would I know? I don't have your memories. I don't have anything in here except these bits and pieces of the past." He knelt down beside the little tiles of stone and bone, running them through his fingers and letting them fall onto the white tiles. They made sharp, staccato little sounds. "This is all I have…" He said softly and Ichigo swallowed at the pain on his face. Then he closed his eyes and concentrated, pulling himself out of Jinzen.

His hollow couldn't help him but maybe Vandular would have some ideas.


	10. A Loss and A Choice

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's note: I suck at fight scenes… I hope this goes okay…

Vandular closed his eyes, gently pulsing hollow power through his hands and into Ichigo's body. Not enough to put his hollow in control, it was more than enough to direct Jinzen in the right direction and aid in the awakening of his hollow.

Van was truly angry about what had happened to his son, a soul deep anger that demanded retribution. He'd loved Shiro-hana. True, he could be more than a little selfish and he'd always had a love of terrible jokes, but he'd been a good pup. Strong and capable, willing to meet the challenges life threw at him headlong. He'd always been a warm, cheerful presence, despite the coldness of Hueco Mundo. But then, that was the only life he knew, as a natural born vasto lorde.

Pulling his hands away, Vandular watched Ichigo for a moment before nodding. The teen no longer needed his help. His expression was smooth and his reiatsu had a touch of hollow perfume that signified something was happening. Setting his hands in his lap, the elderly hollow prepared himself to wait.

Unfortunately, he didn't have the chance to wait long. Glancing up he uncrossed his legs, then stood in a fluid motion. He was picking up a flare of powerful reiatsu. No, he was picking up more than one signature. Clearly the shinigami had managed to track him down.

"Damn." He said mildly, trying to comprehend it. How had they found him so quickly? True, this was a high reishi spot like Karakura town… otherwise it would have been more than mildly uncomfortable to one of his kind… but it was nowhere. There was no one and nothing living here, from what he could detect. Even the great herds of beasts that had once sustained his people seemed to be gone.

Sudden suspicion hit him and he glanced at Ichigo sharply. Taking care not to disturb his concentration, he began searching him with claws and reiatsu. He soon found what he was looking for.

"Damn." He said again as he dangled the shinigami badge from sharp talons. He'd never encountered anything like it before but Vandular was certain he'd found the problem. "Ah well." Dropping the badge he turned, assessing his chances. They were not particularly good. There were four… no, five taichou-class shinigami and another presence that he found worrisome. The power was vaguely familiar yet nothing he could remember encountering before.

Looking back at Ichigo he called on his power, forming a dome of energy over the teen. Then he narrowed his eyes, seeking out his blood connection to the land. At first the dome was golden but then it abruptly went blue as he made the connection and fed the reishi of the ground into the protection. Vandular grunted in approval before quickly going to the other side of the mound and fetching Zangetsu. He dropped it in front of the shield, regretting that he had not fetched it first. But the sword could withstand more battering than fragile flesh.

Turning around, he watched as the shinigami appeared in front of him. He knew two of them, the man with the spiky black hair and the one wearing the pink kimono. The others were strangers to him, a male with a wolf's head, what looked like a very young boy – that had to be deceptive – and a man with blonde hair and a rather disconcerting, extremely toothy smile. Vandular stiffened as he caught an all too familiar scent on him. How many pieces had his white flower been broken into?

"Welcome to my homeland, shinigami." He said as calmly as he could, still assessing his chances. The strange power was a boy with black hair, no older than Ichigo. He wore white and his power felt so different. Yet… it called out to something in him. Van knew this power in his bones. "May I ask what you are?" He questioned the boy. If he could keep them talking long enough, Ichigo might complete his Jinzen. Van really didn't want to fight if he could avoid it.

"He is a Quincy. Hand over Ichigo, hollow." The man in the pink kimono ordered. Then he continued, his tone almost regretful. "We do not want to fight you but we will if we must."

"It is wise of you not to wish to fight." Vandular said mildly before gesturing towards the ground. "As I said, this is my homeland. It is most unwise to challenge a shaman on his home ground." That was something of a bluff, but with an element of truth to it. He had immense powers here, in addition to his massive reiatsu. But would it be enough against such a powerful force? He didn't think so. Generally speaking, his way of handling such a situation would be not to get into it in the first place. "However, Ichigo is embarking on a spirit quest. I cannot let you disrupt him before it is complete." He said, concealing his knowledge of Jinzen. He preferred to let these shinigami think him an ignorant hollow, as much as he could. The man in the pink kimono looked puzzled, glancing towards the dome of blue. But it was impossible to see inside.

"What the hell are we talking for? Let's do this!" The man with the spiky hair said with a grin and Vandular groaned, silently. He could feel the bloodlust radiating from him and knew the man was itching for another crack at him.

"I agree." The boy with the white hair said and Van decided to just try to keep them talking. His read on the situation was that it was bad. There were just too many of them, they would overwhelm him in the end.

"Forgive me, but aren't you a bit young for this?" He asked as innocently as he could and the little boy stiffened as the Quincy boy looked slightly pained. "And what are you, if I may inquire?" He asked the man with the wolf head. That was partly genuine curiosity, the old hollow had never seen anything like it. Unfortunately, someone understood what he was doing.

"Enough. You're trying to delay us. If you won't give us Ichigo we will have to make you." The man with the kimono said and Vandular had to dodge as several attacks were launched at once. Too much power…

"I cannot hold back." He muttered to himself before calling on the full power of his reiatsu. It exploded around him in a corona of black and gold light before travelling upwards in a ray of absolute darkness. That darkness spread across the sky and clouds billowed up, lightning flashing and thunder rolling as the storm came. "Forgive me." That was for Ichigo, for his Shiro-hana. They wouldn't want this but Vandular would not go down without a fight.

What followed was very unpleasant for everyone involved. The shinigami tried to engage him as a group but only so many could come at him at once. Lightning bolts flickered and flowed, countered by shinigami power. The little boy called on a power that was iced based, which did not impress Vandular at all. It took him a few tries but he managed to rest one taloned hand on a wing of ice.

"Ice conducts." He said softly before demonstrating the principle. The boy spiraled out of the sky, his clothing smoking and Vandular just barely parried strikes from both man with the kimono and the shinigami with the blonde hair. Then a blow went home and he cursed softly as blade tore into his wing. He had to reinforce himself with reiatsu to keep flying.

The blasts of electricity that followed were blinding and Van called on the winds, using them to knock his enemies off balance. Then he exploited the opening, landing a good slash on the man with the spiky hair. Then he went for the blonde, driving him back with powerful wingbeats.

"I notice you do not call on your hollow, shinigami. Why is that?" He asked and the man didn't answer, just concentrating on keeping sharp claws away from his throat. "Damn!" There was another flash of lightning and Vandular saw something unpleasant directly in front of him. He disengaged and ran, which caused the shinigami to pursue… but someone else was in danger. "Behind you." Van used an ancient power to throw his voice. To the Quincy, it would sound like someone was speaking in his ear. The boy glanced behind him involuntarily and his eyes went wide as he saw the tornado bearing down on him. Van glanced around the battlefield and silently cursed.

When his power was released too long, it had unpleasant effects on reality. That was bad enough in Hueco Mundo, which had no true weather. In the Living world it became even more extreme and several cyclones were forming. Hail began to drop out of the sky, causing the old hollow no real pain but pattering against his bone in a staccato rhythm. Then a kido was fired at him and he had to counter. Vandular growled softly as the battle continued. He was bleeding from several wounds and feeling the strain of this. How much could he take?

"Tenken!" That caught his attention admirably and black and gold eyes went wide as he saw the tremendous thing, swinging a sword at him. Van expected it to be slow but it wasn't. In fact, it was preternaturally swift for something so large and he knew there was only one way he could handle such a thing. Clouds swirled and parted, swirling in a circular pattern, forming the eye of the storm. Vandular danced along the huge thing, trying to hold it in place as his power built. He had to handle the other shinigami at the same time, but they were wary of what was happening above them. A dozen dots of pure light appeared at the edges of the storm clouds and power flowed to meet in the center of the eye-

That was when Vandular made a critical error. He was too concentrated on what he was doing and had forgotten a very important detail. He'd seized Tenken's arm when a sword abruptly thrust out of his own shadow, a shadow he had created with the building of his ultimate power. He gasped softly as it impaled him through the lower chest, cutting through his already weakened hierro and wounding him severely. Even worse, it held him in place for a critical moment. The arm he was holding held Tenken's sword, but his other arm was free.

The fist hit him like the wrath of an angry god. The vasto lorde was knocked away, bits and pieces of broken bone flying through the air. Vandular was in shock as he felt the loss, felt the breaking of something important and irreplaceable. The heavens felt it as well and the storm suddenly went insane. Lightning glowed and gale force winds ripped through the plains, tearing up the long grasses and uprooting the few trees.

Then the wind died as the ancient hollow fell from the sky. He was sorrowful yet peaceful as the ground rose up to greet him. Vandular had lived a good life, for a hollow, and he had few regrets. He mostly regretted that he would never see his last child.

He hit the ground hard, raising a great cloud of dust as his body dug a crater into the unforgiving earth. Wings broke and more bones shattered, but Vandular was already past caring. He could feel the reiatsu draining from his wounds and looked up at the stars, his eyes hazy. In a way, it seemed strangely appropriate.

This was the burial ground of his clan, the place he had been interred as a living man. It seemed right that he would rest here a second time.

* * *

Ichigo blinked as he came to awareness and saw the dome of blue around him.

Reaching out with one hand he touched it and it shattered. Wind hit him and Ichigo gasped, trying to find Zangetsu. He had to grab the blade as it rolled past. It had been snug against his little protection, pushed there by the wind. Looking around wide eyed, Ichigo saw the eye of the storm and saw Tenken, silhouetted in the white light. And he saw when the end came.

_Papi, no!_ His hollow's anguished scream sent him into motion but then the lightning struck. At least a dozen bolts hit the ground simultaneously and Ichigo could smell the ozone, see the dry grassland taking fire as the wind whipped it up. That made him lose track of the falling hollow but he saw the impact, saw the cloud of dust and dirt that exploded into the air.

Landing beside the crater, Ichigo caught his breath as he saw the hollow within. Vandular's mask was shattered. Half his face was exposed and Ichigo could see a slight resemblance to the hollow in his mind. The exposed face was very handsome, with clean cut, regular features and an aquiline nose. The resemblance to his hollow was something about the set of the eyes and the profile of the jaw. Shiro had clearly taken more after his mother.

_Who cares about that?! Do something you idiot!_ His hollow demanded and Ichigo swallowed as he realized how badly Vandular was hurt. The usually graceful wings were ripped and torn, one of them folded under him in a way that indicated it was badly broken. A pool of blood was forming beneath him and his black and gold eyes were half-closed, looking sleepy. Ichigo knelt beside him, heedless of the blood and took his hand.

"Van, you have to heal yourself. Please, do something!" He pleaded. He knew he couldn't do it. Ichigo had no skill with healing kido and he doubted his hollow did, either. "Don't leave Rin alone!" That was killing him inside. Rin had a pup on the way. She couldn't lose Vandular, not now, not like this. The ancient hollow stirred slightly before shaking his head.

"Everyone dies… Shiro-hana…" His voice was a fading rasp and Ichigo's grip on that bony hand tightened. Ichigo was vaguely aware of a half-mask forming on his face, aware of the shinigami watching them, but he didn't care. "I can't…"

"Yes you can!" Ichigo could hear his voice going echoing, feel his hollow rising. But he couldn't deny him. This was his father, the one who had held him as a small child, flown him through the endless night. "You can do anything papi! I believe in you!" That sounded almost childish, his hollow's absolute faith in his sire shining through. Vandular sighed, stirring then gasping in pain.

"If you're going to whine at me so much… I'll try…" He murmured. "Help me… up…" Ichigo put a shoulder under Vandular's arm, putting the limb over his back and shoulders. The hollow was surprisingly light but his wings were badly in the way, dragging with every step. "The mound… the top…" He said and Ichigo nodded, helping him to walk.

Vandular was sagging badly by the time they reached the top of the mound. He muttered a quick instruction and Ichigo obeyed, letting the hollow go. He fell to his knees, digging his hands into the hard earth and closing his eyes, his head down. For a moment nothing happened… but then it did.

The reishi of the land responded to the shaman's call, lifting from the grasslands and converging on the ancient burial ground. Ichigo had to step back as the blue light surrounded Vandular, growing ever more intense. As he watched the worst of the wounds bound together and the broken wings straightened, becoming whole once more. Van's mask remained broken, exposing the left side of his face, half his chest and his left upper arm. The light of the reishi seemed to illuminate his tattoos, elegant, flowing depictions of prey animals. Then the light died and Ichigo reacted, catching Vandular before he could fall. To his dismay, he saw that the ancient hollow was unconscious. Looking around, he realized he was the centre of attention and squared his shoulders, scowling at everyone.

Whatever happened, he was not going to let them kill his hollow's father.

* * *

Vandular came back to consciousness slowly.

For a time, he thought he was in Hueco Mundo. The air was thick and heavy with reishi. But the smells… the smells were very wrong. He scented wood, herbs and spices, the strong scent of tuna for someone's meal. That last roused him, because it was very out of place. A hollow might have uses for wood, herbs and spices, but not fish…

Van blinked slowly, the world whirling a bit before resolving into a ceiling. The ceiling was white and swirled in a rather pretty pattern. His eyes traced it, quite fascinated. His own people had lived in tents, they had no roofs… Then he blinked as he realized there was something over his face. He tried to reach up to touch it and realized he was bound. What…?

_Shiro-hana._ Vandular stiffened as the recent past came back to him. His son and Ichigo had convinced him to remain and, using his powers as a shaman and his blood connection to the land, he had managed it. But that had left him helpless at the mercy of shinigami. Van had no illusions about that. While they should be sending him on, he was a unique example of his kind. Squirming, he twisted his head and tried to figure out how to get out of this fix. It wasn't good. In addition to the restraints, there was some form of reiatsu limiter around his neck –

"You really shouldn't be moving like that." A cheerful voice said and the ancient hollow looked sharply to the right. A man was there, wearing an odd green and white bucket hat and licking a lollipop. "You might knock out your IV."

"My what?" Vandular asked, completely confused. The man just pointed to his arm and he lifted his head, looking down and seeing… "What is that?" He honestly had no idea. He was a skilled healer in his own way but Van had left the Living world behind a very, very long time ago.

"It's food. Essentially, we're feeding a steady stream of liquefied reishi into your body." He explained and Van blinked. He would never have thought such a thing was possible. "You were starting to get hungry and it was very unpleasant to be around you." That would certainly have been true. He was normally in complete control of himself but if he became hungry while unconscious his body would automatically seek sustenance.

"May I ask what your plans are for me?" He asked as politely as possible. The shinigami smiled and shrugged, enjoying his sweet.

"Well, many people wanted to kill you. But Ichigo had other ideas… I hope you don't mind the restraints, but no one was willing to leave you alive without them." He explained and Vandular nodded slowly. That was… sensible.

"I see. What is your name?" He couldn't really sense anything with the reiatsu limiter in place, but he thought this man was powerful.

"I'm Urahara Kisuke." He said cheerfully. "But you can call me Kisuke. Now, I have some questions for you if you don't mind?" He asked and Van shrugged slightly.

"I have little else to do." He could at least listen to the shinigami's questions. If any of them were too personal or sensitive, he could refuse to answer.

"Excellent!" Suddenly a notebook came out and Van blinked, wondering if this had been a good idea. "Now, to start with… approximately how old are you?"

"I really don't know. Five thousand years?" He hazarded a guess. "It might be more." Considerably more. Younger than Barragan but older than anything else had been his default measurement. Although now that Barragan was dead, he was the oldest hollow in Hueco Mundo. The shinigami jotted that down and kept asking questions. They mostly related to himself but quickly went into general information about hollows. Vandular found himself reminiscing about his children, how they had grown and developed. He couldn't hide the sadness in his voice and that caught Kisuke's attention.

"Is something wrong?" He asked and Vandular paused before giving the man a small smile. With half his mask gone, he could see it. That was an unexpected positive of the situation.

"In the fight, they broke my mask and I lost essence. I am sterile, now." He said softly and the shinigami's eyes widened. "It is painful. I love children." He always had. They had been his joy in life and as soon as he was advanced enough, they had become his joy in death. "But the change is permanent. There is no point in thinking about it." There was nothing that could be done. "I am on the next stage of my life." That was decline. His power was lower, now, and would gradually continue to fade. It might take a thousand years but Vandular knew it would happen. "Ah, well."

"Can you explain that?" The shinigami asked and Vandular sighed before explaining how a broken mask could sterilize a hollow. It didn't always… only when too much was lost, or part of it was eaten by another hollow. He'd lost quite a bit when Tenken had shattered his bone. They were still talking when someone familiar and welcome entered the room.

"Vandular! You're awake." Ichigo said but his smile seemed forced to the ancient hollow. "How are you feeling?"

"Well enough." He was still alive, at least. He wasn't going to burden Ichigo with his troubles. Shiro-hana would know what was wrong in any case. Had he told the teenager? An interesting question. "Now that you know what has happened, what will you do?" That was also an interesting question. Ichigo sat down beside him with a sigh.

"I don't know. Kisuke, can we remove those restraints?" He asked and the shinigami shook his head.

"No, Ichigo. You know what the Soutaichou said. He'll only be freed back into Hueco Mundo." Kisuke gently chided him and Van blinked. He was honestly surprised that they would let him go at all. Ichigo sighed but didn't protest.

"You have several options." Vandular said and their attention went back to him. "You can, of course, abandon Hueco Mundo and remain in the Living World." That thought pained him and Ichigo's lips tightened in pain and rejection. "The second option is to return to Hueco Mundo and abandon the Living world." From the look on Ichigo's face, that was no more acceptable than the first option. "You could try to bring Grimmjow and Masahiko here…. But that would be difficult. Your child is a hollow." There were certainly shinigami aspects and the child had inherited things from Ichigo, but he was Shiro-hana's son. The nature of the conception ensured that. "And I don't know if I would trust the shinigami." That was definitely a concern. Ichigo rubbed his forehead, looking pained. "The last option is most interesting… I believe there is a chance my youngling could be recovered." That made Ichigo stare and Kisuke blinked, the lollipop in his mouth stopping its' slow movement for a moment.

"What? How?" Ichigo asked, confused, and Vandular looked at him thoughtfully.

"It will be dangerous to you." He warned as the teen frowned. "But I believe it might be possible to gather the scattered pieces of my Shiro-hana from the shinigami who hold him. I hope you know who they are?" If they didn't… but Ichigo nodded.

"They're called the Visored." He said and Van nodded.

"The Visored, and then reclaim the largest piece from you. That will be the dangerous part. My Shiro-hana is a large part of your soul. But with my blood connection I believe it is possible." If it weren't for that, it would be impossible. Kisuke took a deep breath as Ichigo bit his lip, looking down at the floor. His brown eyes were glazed with a suspicious wetness.

"But then I wouldn't see Grimm and Masahiko again." He said softly and Van nodded. "But Masahiko will have his mami… I… I don't know. I have to think about it."

"Take as long as you like. I think this shinigami has more questions for me." Van said drily and Kisuke laughed as Ichigo smiled weakly.

"I certainly do! Now, how many other hollows of your strength are there, approximately?" He asked and Van gave him a narrow eyed look. That was getting into areas he would not discuss. "Um… a bit too sensitive?"

"Yes." He said firmly. Shinigami sometimes approached purifying hollows as a holy mission and that simply would not do, in Hueco Mundo. The balance didn't need more disruption and if they tried to hunt down the great old ones, it would be greatly harmed. "Is there anything else?" They went back to the children, which was less sensitive. Vandular was happy to talk about that. It would only underscore how similar the greatest hollows were to shinigami.

They came at it from opposite directions, but they came to a similar place in the end.

**Author's Note:**

> Author's Note: If Grimmjow seems a little OC, there's a very good reason for that... he's vasto lorde now, like Nel or Halibel. :) Something he's going to think about next chapter...


End file.
